Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not being here earlier. I pay special tribute to the Minister of State for her work on this Bill. It is an area she has been extremely passionate about for several years. She identified the many inequalities in this sector early in her political life and resolved to put them right. It is fair to say we have a great champion for our older, and often most marginalised, people. I digress somewhat, but I also take this chance to commend her on her hands-on role in the administration and management of the home vaccine programme. It was, arguably, one of the most difficult strands of the vaccine programme, but the Minister of State realised that it was one we had to get right. Working with the National Ambulance Service, she made it her personal mission.

I take this opportunity to thank the staff who have worked in our nursing homes and care facilities throughout what has arguably been the most difficult 14 months of their lives. I think especially of St. Joseph’s care centre and Laurel Lodge nursing home in Longford town, Thomond Lodge nursing home in Ballymahon, Our Lady's Manor nursing home in Edgeworthstown, and Costello's care home and Innis Ree Lodge nursing home in Ballyleague, which, although they might be over the bridge in Connacht, we still regard as part of Longford.

In all these locations, staff have gone above and beyond the call of duty over the past 14 months, and often in the most trying of circumstances. It has been a terribly difficult time for the residents of these facilities, while for their family members who have been unable to see and visit them, it has been truly agonising. Again, however, it was the Minister of State who campaigned week after week for greater access and visitation rights for family members. As our vaccination programme rolls out with momentum, we are finally nearing a return to normal visiting access for these and many other care facilities.

Rural Ireland has waited a long time for this Bill, as many speakers said. Every constituency office has tales of despair and disappointment concerning the existing fair deal scheme. Finally, we have the long-sought scheme to provide greater protections for farm families and family-owned businesses. I am very proud Fianna Fail’s fingerprints are evident on this Bill. It was a firm commitment from our party, north, south east and west, that we address these inequalities, and thanks to the Minister of State and her team in the Department we are able to stand over that commitment today. After three years, the value of family-owned farms or businesses will no longer be factored in when calculating the cost of a person’s nursing home care. This will be the case where a family successor intends to continue working the farm or running the business. It is a necessary change if we want to sustain and protect the family farm and the many related small businesses, all of which, when combined, are the bedrock of rural Ireland.

We are incredibly proud in this House of rural Ireland and the stellar international appeal and reputation which it enjoys. Rural Ireland looks green, spectacular and incredibly inviting, and that is thanks to the many farm families and small family businesses. The farm family is not a business, an institution or some legal entity. It is a family treasure, burnished over generations, and protecting it and its dependents is sacrosanct for any Government. I am extremely pleased to see that this Bill has almost universal support. There is a message here and it is a simple one. When ideological differences and agendas are parked, solutions can and will always be found. Too often in this House, debates and problems are battled out on ideological grounds. Rather than arriving at solutions, we are allowing and, in many cases, forcing issues to fester and deteriorate further as the House loses itself in acrimony and the recycling of past failings and future fears.

The Minister of State and all the parties listened to the public, to the families affected, to the farm organisations and to the many owners of small family-run businesses and realised that change was needed. The nursing home support scheme has operated for more than a decade and in a political world that is a lifetime. We all readily agree that it has been a success and a mechanism through which families have been able to access the care and supports for loved ones which would otherwise have eluded them. Up to the end of 2020, 22,755 people were participating in the scheme at an annual cost of more than €1 billion.

Participants in the scheme contribute up to 80% of their assessable income and a maximum of 7.5% per annum of the value of assets held. In the case of a couple, the applicant’s means are assessed as 50% of the couple’s combined income and assets. The overall aim of the scheme is that participants contribute to the cost of their care according to their means, while the State pays the balance of the cost. The capital value of people's principal private residences is only included in the financial assessment for the scheme for the first three years of their time in care. This is known as the three-year cap. Currently, this unqualified three-year cap does not apply to productive assets, such as farms and businesses, except in the case where a farmer or business owner suffers a sudden illness or disability and as a result requires nursing home care.

This Bill seeks to address this issue by introducing additional safeguards to the scheme to further protect the viability and sustainability of family farms and businesses that will be passed on to the next generation of many families. The proposed change is to cap the financial contributions based on farm and business assets at three years, where a nominated family successor commits to working with the productive asset within the first three years of the resident’s time in care. Sadly, this Government struggles to find favour as we are caught in a maelstrom of public discontent and frustration in the face of Covid-19 and crises in health and housing. Today is a good day for the Government, however. It is a great day for the Minister of State and also a great day for our colleagues in Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party who were involved in talks on the formation of a Government. We can all say that this is one they did get right.

I am conscious that I have a few minutes left, so I have two key questions for the Minister of State to respond to, if she is able to do so. First, regarding the case of a family member who has been in a nursing home for two and a half years, will that time count towards the three years? Will only six months remain in that case? Finally, it is important that the Minister of State and her Department can today give the House commitment regarding the implementation of these changes, because this Bill has been in gestation for a long time, as many speakers have said. We are beholden to the Irish people, and particularly the many families who have struggled with the fair deal scheme, to give a clear and distinct timeline concerning when this legislation will come into effect.

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