Fair Deal scheme: Solutions are needed, not just analysis

Many older people and their families will be relieved to learn that nursing home residents under the Fair Deal scheme will not have to pay an increased contribution towards their care.

Kathleen Lynch, the minister of state at the Department of Health with responsibility for older people, confirmed yesterday that current rates would remain. She clarified this after the publication of a review into the scheme, which set out a range of options for the Government in terms of long-term funding.

While Ireland was once regarded as home of the ‘young Europeans’, we now have an ageing population that is likely to add to the cost of an already overstretched health service.