John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Carrigy, for his moving contribution. It gives us a real sense of the challenges that are faced by families in deciding whether to try to cope at home or put a loved one into a nursing home that provides great care. I commend my colleague.

I welcome my fellow Waterfordian, the Minister of State, to the House. I compliment her on bringing forward this very important legislation, which will have a significant and positive impact on those families who have farm and business assets and are availing of the nursing home support scheme, commonly referred to as the fair deal scheme. It should be noted that the scheme represents a €1.4 billion investment annually by the State, and benefits over 22,000 people.

As the Minister of State is aware, it has taken a considerable amount of time for the Bill to get to this point. I acknowledge the exceptional hard work done by my Fine Gael colleague, the former Minister of State, Jim Daly, on this Bill. The changes were approved in July 2018 and the pre-legislative scrutiny was commenced in November 2019. Obviously, progress on the Bill was impacted by the general election and Covid-19. It was great to see the Bill pass all Stages in the Dáil yesterday. I am sure it will pass all Stages in the Seanad by close of business tomorrow.

The review of the fair deal scheme committed to reviewing how productive assets are treated for the purpose of the scheme, and whether the sudden illness or disability condition should be removed and the three-year cap applied to productive assets. Currently, the unqualified three-year cap does not apply to productive assets such as farms and businesses, except where a farm or a business owner suffers a sudden illness or disability, and as a result, requires nursing home care. This can, and does, have a significant impact on the viability of family-owned and operated farms and businesses, as a large proportion of the asset's value is owed to the State. As Senator Carrigy rightly pointed out, it has resulted in families having to sell businesses or farm holdings, which is unfair and counterproductive.

Under the proposed legislation and the amendment to the scheme, contributions based on family-owned and operated farm or business assets will be capped at three years, where a family successor commits, within the first three years of the relevant person's time in care, to working the farm or business asset for a period of six years. The intent of the amendment is to ensure that in cases where the productive income of the farm or business is being relied upon as the principal livelihood and the farm or business is being handed down to the next generation, the viability and sustainability of such farms or businesses are protected because there is a degree of certainty about the overall cost of the long-term residential care. There is a dual benefit of the measure in terms of equalisation with other financial assets and also promoting the next generation of business and farm owners. As we move to a jobs-led recovery in the coming years, it is important that this generational shift takes place and we support the younger generation of entrepreneurs that is coming to the fore. A lot of knowledge within families can help to progress businesses and farms.

I will touch on an element of my own brief in housing in the context of the fair deal scheme. I ask the Minister of State to engage with her colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, on the issue. I have spoken to the Minister about it. It concerns the treatment of rental income under the fair deal scheme. Currently, participants in the scheme contribute up to 80% of their assessable income. That includes rental income, which means there is no incentive for families to rent out the property. They go through what can often be a traumatic experience of packing up the belongings of their mother, father or relative and putting them into storage. I appreciate that some concerns have been expressed about whether an incentive would push families towards putting older people into nursing homes against their will. That would not apply in the vast majority of cases. If we had a rate lower than 80%, for example, a rate of 20% or 40%, as currently applies to rental income generally, it would have a positive impact in freeing up much-needed housing and rental stock for individuals and families across the country. I ask the Minister of State to take that suggestion on board and address the matter in the autumn.