Woman to get no nursing home aid

An elderly woman who claims she is facing eviction from a nursing home over €38,000 a year fees has lost a High Court bid to get the HSE to pay towards her care.

Martina Noonan, aged 77, and her farmer son Stephen, aged 38, claimed the HSE refusal means it is effectively demanding that Stephen sell the 56-acre family farm at Rinroe, Enniscrone, Co Sligo, to pay the €736 per week nursing home bill.

They claimed she has been threatened with eviction from the Ard na Greine nursing home in Enniscrone, where she has lived for three-and-a-half years, because neither she or her son can afford to pay the fees without state help.

The HSE argued she was the beneficial owner of the farm, worth €610,000, when 52 acres was transferred to Stephen and four acres to his sister Anne for a nil value three months before Mrs Noonan went into the home in Dec 2009. She therefore did not qualify under the Fair Deal scheme which provides nursing home payments for people unable to afford them.

The court heard income from the farm is just €168 per week and Stephen has received correspondence from the nursing home telling him alternative accommodation will have to be found for his mother, who is in poor health, unless the bills are paid.

In view of the fact that this was an unusual case which needed to be brought, Mr Justice Hedigan agreed to make no order in relation to costs of the case which means both sides will have to pay their own costs.