Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I agree with Senator Bradford. The Government has taken a very small step to address the serious issue of farm families confronted with having to pay for nursing home care. Such families could be exposed to huge costs and forced to sell the family farm to pay for nursing home care. A person who spends three years in a nursing home costing €800 per week will pay more than €124,000, which is 80% of disposable income. Despite the Government's amendment, the legislation has an unfair impact on such farming families or owners of small businesses. It could have serious implications for the ability of future generations to carry on the farming tradition.

Senator Bradford asked where the idea of not having a ceiling on charges on farming assets came from. Why was this approach taken to other assets when the limit on residences was clearly set at 15%? The Minister of State has not answered that question.

The question of transfer of ownership is of great relevance to farming families. The transfer of a family farm must have taken place at least five years before the time of the assessment of means to have it excluded from the assets for the purpose of the deferred charge. This presents difficulties. The Minister of State referred to the support of the IFA. That organisation's chief economist, Mr. Con Lucey, showed that where the value of the farm asset is excluded, the individual contributes 33% of the total cost of care and the State contributes 67% but where the farm asset is included, the individual carries 81% of the cost of care and the State carries 19%. That is not equitable. The five-year transfer rule will have serious implications for families and for the transfer of farms to a younger generation.

The amendments introduced on Report Stage in the Dáil do not address this serious issue. They go only a small way towards dealing with it. The interpretation of the sudden illness measure is far from clear.