Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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224. To ask the Minister for Health when he will commence the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Act 2021; the projected full year costs of the changes to the cap on farms and businesses; the projected full year cost on the changes to the treatment of capital following the sale of the family home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45521/21]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Act 2021 was signed into law on 22 July. The principal amendment introduced under the Act extended the three-year cap on contributions to farms and businesses owned by scheme participants, on the condition that these continue to be managed by a family successor for a certain period. The goal of this amendment is to assist in protecting the viability and sustainability of family farms and family run businesses. The timeline set out in the legislation ensures that the Act will be operational by the 20 October 2021.

The 2021 full year cost of this measure is estimated at €10.30m, reducing to €10.20m per annum in 2022 and 2023, with an additional per annum cost of €3.75m (€13.95m) being realised in 2024.

Under the NHSS Act 2009, a participant in the Fair Deal scheme contributes to costs at 7.5% against the value of their principal residence for their first three years in care; after this, the contributions from the residence is capped. However, if they then sold the residence, the resulting cash asset would be assessable indefinitely. The NHSS Amendment Act 2021 changed this, so that the three-year cap is also applied to the cash proceeds of sale of a principal residence, as long as the residence is sold after an individual enters long-term care. This amendment ensures that the value of the PPR continues to be protected for families, whether the home is sold before or after the resident leaves care. It also removes a disincentive against the sale of vacant properties, in the context of the government’s Housing for All strategy.

The costs of this amendment were estimated at a total of €6.5m annually.