Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will address the last question first. Once the Bill has been enacted, from the day a person appoints his or her successor, any time spent in the nursing home previous to that will be accounted for. If, therefore, a person has been in a nursing for two and a half years and he or she appoints a successor today, the three-year cap will be reached after six months. Time spent in the nursing home is taken into account.

Regarding the questions asked by Deputies Naughten and Danny Healy-Rae, the same circumstances apply if a couple go into a nursing home separately because they are still classed as a couple. If, therefore, one person is at home and one is in a nursing home, the 3.75% figure applies. It is three years each at 3.75% for a couple. Technically, therefore, it could be six years because they are classed individually for the time spent but they are classed as a couple. It is not, therefore, 7.5%; it is 3.75% once they are part of a couple.

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