Hope for farmers with Fair Deal reform

LEGISLATION to ease the financial burden of the Fair Deal scheme on farmers will be brought before the Dáil within the next three months, and has been welcomed by Wexford Senator Malcolm Byrne.

Changes to the scheme will put a cap on how much farmers and business owners have to contribute towards nursing home costs and will ease the financial burden on farm families and small business owners who avail of it.

Senator Byrne said that there are dozens of Wexford families impacted every year by the current legislation.

‘At present, because there is not a cap on the level of contribution, this can cause serious financial hardship and farm families in particular and they are concerned that they may lose the family farm. But this is a really welcome move and will help farm families and small businesses when they are often faced with difficult decisions concerning an elderly family member.

‘I have come across many families who have faced potentially huge financial burdens while wanting to provide the best-possible care for a loved one. This will give them some comfort.’

The Minister for Older People, Mary Butler, has also indicated that a new plan to allow people grow old in their own homes with state support will be introduced by 2022. But for now, the minister said changes to the Fair Deal scheme are necessary as farmers are reluctant to sign up because they fear they will lose their farms.

The current system sees farm families and small business owners required to set aside 7.5 per cent of the value of their land annually to fund a place in a nursing home and there is no cap on contributions. But in order to qualify for the new scheme the farmer/business owner, their partner or nominated family successor must have worked the farm or business for three out of the previous five years.