Moynihan - ‘Fair Deal’ not working for farmers
THE current make up of the Fair Deal nursing home scheme is unfair and threatens the very future of farming in Ireland.
That’s the view of Cork North West TD Aindrias Moynihan, who has called on the government to honour its commitment to review the impact the scheme is having on farmers and other family businesses such as shops and pubs.
The Fianna Fáil deputy made his comments during a debate on the scheme, which placed a particular focus on the knock-on effect it is having on the farming community.
He claimed the current assessment regime was undermining family farms as it forces families to transfer valuable assets to the State in order to allow a family member access to the scheme.
“A major issue I have with the scheme at present is that there is no maximum cap on debt. In a non-farming situation, if a person stays in a nursing home for say seven years, it is capped at three years. This does not happen for farming families and the debt continues to accrue,” said Deputy Moynihan.
“The end result is that it will be harder for farms to be passed onto the next generation as they are loaded with debt,” he added.
Two years ago a review into the workings of the scheme undertaken by the Department of Health recommended its rules be changed to make it more equitable for the farming community.
The review deemed as “reasonable” the view of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) that its rules placed a significant financial burden on farming families and that consideration should be given to the capping of nursing home costs against the value of a farm that is being transferred to its owner’s children.
Deputy Moynihan said the government had made a “clear commitment” in its Programme for Government to address the anomaly that he said was “causing severe hardship for families.”
“However, it has been a year since the formation of the government and we are still waiting for any meaningful progress on this issue. Fianna Fáil has been pushing for action and will insist on it being addressed in the upcoming budget,” he said. “The current make up of the scheme us deeply unfair and threatens the future of farming in Ireland. Small farmers are already struggling to survive financially and the further removal of assets will only force them to abandon their livelihoods. This simply cannot be tolerated.”