Nursing home wants to evict woman, 77

A 77-year-old woman faces eviction from a nursing home after the HSE demanded she pay €38,000 per year for her accommodation because she was the owner of the family farm for “less than a minute” before it was transferred to her son, the High Court has heard.

Martina Noonan’s son Stephen, aged 38, has brought a challenge to the HSE’s refusal to approve an application under the Government’s Fair Deal scheme, which provides payments for people who cannot afford long-term care in nursing homes.

The HSE says Mrs Noonan, who has lived in Ard na Greine nursing home in Enniscrone, Sligo, for over three years, can afford to pay €736 per week because she had owned the 56-acre family farm at Rinroe, Enniscrone.

The Noonans say she cannot afford that sum and was never the beneficial owner of the property. She only held it briefly to facilitate the administration of the estate of her late husband, Michael Noonan.

The court heard that in 2001, Michael instructed his solicitor to arrange the transfer of most of the farm to Stephen, with four acres to go to his daughter Anne.

However, he died in Nov 2006 before he completed the transfer documents. Because he died intestate, the family solicitor advised that Stephen and Anne’s legal interest in the estate should be transferred to the widow and then the whole property immediately transferred to the children.

That transfer, carried out in Sept 2009 by the Noonan family solicitor, involved Mrs Noonan having the property in her ownership for “less than a minute”, Jim O’Callaghan SC, for Martina and Stephen Noonan, told the court.

In Dec 2009, Mrs Noonan was admitted to Ard na Greine because she was in extremely poor health and was incapable of looking after herself, counsel said.

Stephen and his mother are claiming the HSE regional appeals office erred by finding she was not eligible under the scheme. He claims the inclusion of the farm in assessing eligibility is unfair and artificial.

The HSE is opposing the claim.

The case continues.