Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 64: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that house properties left vacant in the aftermath of a person securing long term residential care are inordinately difficult to insure; if this situation has implications for the long term operation of the fair deal scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24104/10]

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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A key purpose of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme is to ensure that individuals do not have to sell or re-mortgage their homes in order to meet their long-term nursing home care costs. For this reason, the scheme provides that a person's principal residence is only taken into account in the financial assessment for their first three years in care. It also provides that the portion of the person's contribution based on the principal residence may be deferred for the duration of their lifetime. This is an optional element of the scheme termed the Nursing Home Loan.

It is not a requirement of the scheme that a person's property be insured in order to be taken into account during the financial assessment or in order to be considered for the Nursing Home Loan. As such, the situation referred to by the Deputy does not have implications for the long-term operation of the scheme.