ICMSA: Nursing home care scheme unfair and too property-dependant

Taking 50% of the value of the property of a farmer who spends more than 10 years in a nursing home is an injustice which needs to be reviewed, says the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association.

ICSA general secretary Eddie Punch says the review of the Fair Deal Nursing Care Scheme — announced by Minister of State for Older People Kathleen Lynch — must recommend a move away from the current system, which depends on the value of property to recoup its costs.

Mr Punch, says: “We have always argued that the scheme, as it currently stands, is deeply unfair on family businesses and family farms. The minister is right to question the logic behind a property-based system for nursing home care.