Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. I welcome the proposed changes to the nursing homes support scheme, which are long overdue. I am delighted the Bill is being brought through the Houses prior to the recess. It is in line with a commitment we made in the programme for Government and a commitment I gave personally to local representatives of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, in Longford when we met with them. I am pleased the Bill will be on the Statute Book before long.

For too many years, numerous family farms and businesses had to be sold to fund nursing home care for family members. I welcome these changes to the treatment of farm and business assets in the financial assessment of the means of applicants for the nursing homes support scheme, which will extend the availability of the three-year cap to relevant family-owned and family-operated farm or business assets where a family successor commits to working on the farm or in the business within the first three years of the applicant's time in care. This will safeguard the viability and sustainability of these farms and businesses, notwithstanding that, according to the IFA, only 34% of farms provide a viable income. The family farm or small business is transferred from one generation to another as a means to provide an income return on the hard work involved. It is not a nine-to-five job but seven days a week and 365 days a year. Inheriting the family farm does not amount to a huge cash windfall as some people might think. It is about providing for one's family and then passing on the farm to the next generation.

The nursing homes support scheme represents an annual investment of €1.4 billion by the State in the care of more than 22,000 people. Senator Byrne gave figures regarding our ageing population. We will have significant numbers of elderly people who need to be cared for in the years ahead, at a significant cost to the State. I pay tribute to our former colleague and Minister of State, Jim Daly, for his work on the scheme. As I said, these changes are long overdue. The recommendations in this regard were made up to seven years ago. During that time, many families have endured hardship in trying to meet nursing home charges, often having to sell land to do so. Will there be a hardship fund to examine cases where this has happened or where, as Senator Byrne mentioned, people are already in a nursing home prior to the legislation being enacted?

It is important at this time to thank the staff of all the nursing homes throughout the country for their care of people in need, particularly during the past 15 months. Many of them put their lives on hold to keep our loved ones safe. I experienced this personally when my late mother, Eilish, was in nursing home care during the Covid period.

I have one issue with the scheme and it relates to the term "fair deal". Our system of care for the elderly does not provide a fair deal for all families. I am speaking here on a personal level. Mention was made of care in the home. We need to re-examine our model of care for the elderly. Much of the emphasis when discussing this issue is on the fair deal scheme and nursing home care, when in fact the vast majority of families, including my own, would really like their loved one to be cared for at home. It was just not possible for us to do that for my mother. The option was not really there. When she was diagnosed with dementia in hospital, we were given the option of five hours' care or the fair deal scheme. That was the choice we faced as a family and we had to make a decision. In fact, there was only one decision we could make.

My mother received fantastic care in the nursing home in which she lived. I compliment the staff of St. Joseph's care centre on the top-class care they provided. However, if that type of care could, in some way, be provided in a person's home and be topped up by family members, it would be of great help to people. This is something we must examine as we move forward. It is an option my family would have taken and I know numerous others would be more than willing to do the same if it were available. If I ask only one thing of the Minister of State, it is that she look seriously at that option for the future. It should be something families are able to choose. As well as the likes of communal living, we need to look at providing one-bedroom or two-bedroom homes attached to nursing homes. There is a place in County Mayo - I cannot recall which town it is - where that arrangement is in place. A person can purchase a one-bedroom or two-bedroom house beside the nursing home, avail of the facilities, including medical and dining facilities, but still live independently. We need to take a strong and focused look at the future of care for our elderly. We need to give families a different option. My family, unfortunately, did not have another option. An offer of five hours of care for someone who was unable to walk and care for herself was quite unfair.

Reference was made to the housing adaptation grant. We need to look at cases where half a house has been signed over to a family member and the elderly person has a legal right to remain living there. When it comes to seeking an adaptation grant, if needed, the person is not eligible because the house has been signed over to the relative.Where that legal stipulation is in place in respect of those living in the property, I ask that it be taken into account and that they still be allowed to adapt the house.