Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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1563. To ask the Minister for Health the status of action 19.8 of the Housing for All proposal which set out to amend the nursing home support scheme to remove disincentives against the rental of vacant properties in the fair deal scheme; and the likely timeline for progress in relation to same (details supplied). [20148/22]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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1564. To ask the Minister for Health if he will ensure that those who are administering an estate on behalf of their loved one in a nursing home will be included in consultations in relation to action 19.8 of the Housing for All proposal which sets out to amend the nursing home support scheme to remove disincentives against the rental of vacant properties in the fair deal scheme (details supplied). [20149/22]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1563 and 1564 together.

The Government has approved a policy change to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, or “Fair Deal”, to incentivise applicants to the Scheme to rent out their principal residence after they have entered long-term residential care. The rate of assessment on rental income from a person's principal residence will be reduced from 80% to 40% . This policy change addresses the commitments made under Housing For All Action 19.8. A 40% assessment rate - as opposed to a 0% rate - better manages the risks referred to by the deputy. My Department anticipates that the enactment of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, which is due to come into force at the end of June, will also provide a further framework to safeguard residents’ choices.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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1565. To ask the Minister for Health if he will exempt the rent received from the over-70s medical card calculations in relation to action 19.8 of the Housing for All proposal, which sets out to amend the nursing home support scheme to remove disincentives against the rental of vacant properties in the fair deal scheme (details supplied). [20150/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has approved a policy change to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme “Fair Deal”, to incentivise applicants to the Scheme to rent out their principal residence after they have entered long term residential care. The rate of assessment for rental properties will be reduced from 80% to 40% for income from all principal residences. This will be reviewed after six months of operation, with the potential for further amendment after that point. This policy change addresses the commitments made under Housing For All Action 19.8.

The change will be made through Committee-Stage amendment to the Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Building Control (Amendment) Bill 2022.

At the present time, eligibility for a Medical Card is primarily based on a financial assessment which is conducted by the HSE in accordance with the Health Act 1970 (as amended). The HSE assesses each medical card application on a qualifying financial threshold. This is the amount of money that an individual can earn a week and still qualify for a card. The current medical card assessment guidelines can be accessed by following this link: www2.hse.ie/file-library/medical-cards/medical-cards-national-assessment-guidelines.pdf.

Persons aged 70 or older are assessed under the over 70s medical card income thresholds which can be accessed by following this link: www2.hse.ie/services/medical-cards/medical-card-for-over-70s.html#:~:text=If%20you%20are%2070%20or,a%20week%20for%20a%20couple

While there are no proposals at present to amend the current assessment guidelines for the granting of eligibility for medical cards or GP visit cards, my Department keeps the medical card scheme under ongoing review.