The review of the Fair Deal nursing home support scheme promised under the Programme for Government is soon expected to translate into changes to the scheme.
Since a 2015 report identified the risk to family farms posed by means testing under the scheme, an interdepartmental group has been tasked with preparing its implementation and heard a submission by the IFA last September.
“The proposals put forward by the IFA are currently being considered,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health told the Irish Farmers Journal this week. “Once all of the relevant review recommendations have been considered, any amendments required to the scheme will be identified. Changes which require legislative implementation will then be addressed.”
"A nightmare"
A Cork dairy farmer’s conundrum illustrates the difficulties faced by many farming families applying for the Fair Deal scheme. The farmer wished to remain anonymous because of her current negotiations with the authorities. After her mother was diagnosed with sudden onset dementia a year and a half ago, aged 80, health insurance covered only two weeks’ respite in a nursing home. After that, the family was left with a choice between footing the €880/week bill, or applying for funding under the Fair Deal scheme. This has proved to be “a nightmare,” the farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.
After her father’s early death 20 years ago, she inherited the farm – except for 30ac that her mother kept. “She didn’t know what life would throw at her,” the farmer said. Keeping a bit of land seemed like the prudent thing to do. The farmer has been using it as part of her milking platform ever since, even though it is in her mother’s name.
The land is not generating that much income
But this means the 30ac now fall under the Fair Deal means-testing process, with the family liable to pay 7.5% of their value for every year that their mother spends in the nursing home. “That’s impossible – the land is not generating that much income,” the farmer said. Selling this land would shrink the milking platform by one third, and the herd from 80 to 60 cows. “It starts to bring it into a non-viable family farm,” she added.
You’re left without direction at a time when you’re most vulnerable
The past 18 months have been hard. Once she had downloaded the Fair Deal application form, the farmer struggled to obtain help from her usual solicitor, accountant or even the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. “You’re left without direction at a time when you’re most vulnerable,” she said. She had to organise bank statements, land valuations and go to court to obtain powers of attorney to access her mother’s savings, which she said took months.
“When I first put together an application, the waiting time was 18 weeks. That’s around €18,000,” she said, wondering how families without that level of savings could cope.
“Now the cash is running out and it comes to the land,” the farmer said. She has started to receive solicitors’ letters from the nursing home for unpaid bills. Yet she hasn’t resigned herself to going through with the Fair Deal application and putting her farm on the line. Proposed legislative changes to protect the next generation’s farm under the scheme could be a lifeline to this family.
Home care package on the cards
While the Fair Deal scheme is under review, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Helen McEntee said last week that she would publish a report on the provision of home care in other countries shortly and open consultations on the establishment of a similar scheme here.
For many farming families, keeping an elderly relative at home is the preferred option – provided they get sufficient help in their daily life.
A Co Kildare drystock farmer who currently cares for her 83-year-old grandmother part of the time, while a home help comes for one hour two mornings a week, said: “I’m tipping in and out to her. But when I’m busy lambing ewes for two or three hours in the morning, I’d prefer if I knew she was up and washed and had her tablets – that her needs were met.”
The family used to get help for one hour five days a week, but this was cut during the recession. In recent weeks, the grandmother’s health has been deteriorating.
When they applied to have the five hours restored, they were told that 26 people were on a waiting list in the county, including 12 in their immediate area.
At €25/hour, they are considering hiring private help to avoid putting their grandmother into a nursing home.
Read more
Full coverage: Fair Deal scheme
The review of the Fair Deal nursing home support scheme promised under the Programme for Government is soon expected to translate into changes to the scheme.
Since a 2015 report identified the risk to family farms posed by means testing under the scheme, an interdepartmental group has been tasked with preparing its implementation and heard a submission by the IFA last September.
“The proposals put forward by the IFA are currently being considered,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health told the Irish Farmers Journal this week. “Once all of the relevant review recommendations have been considered, any amendments required to the scheme will be identified. Changes which require legislative implementation will then be addressed.”
"A nightmare"
A Cork dairy farmer’s conundrum illustrates the difficulties faced by many farming families applying for the Fair Deal scheme. The farmer wished to remain anonymous because of her current negotiations with the authorities. After her mother was diagnosed with sudden onset dementia a year and a half ago, aged 80, health insurance covered only two weeks’ respite in a nursing home. After that, the family was left with a choice between footing the €880/week bill, or applying for funding under the Fair Deal scheme. This has proved to be “a nightmare,” the farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.
After her father’s early death 20 years ago, she inherited the farm – except for 30ac that her mother kept. “She didn’t know what life would throw at her,” the farmer said. Keeping a bit of land seemed like the prudent thing to do. The farmer has been using it as part of her milking platform ever since, even though it is in her mother’s name.
The land is not generating that much income
But this means the 30ac now fall under the Fair Deal means-testing process, with the family liable to pay 7.5% of their value for every year that their mother spends in the nursing home. “That’s impossible – the land is not generating that much income,” the farmer said. Selling this land would shrink the milking platform by one third, and the herd from 80 to 60 cows. “It starts to bring it into a non-viable family farm,” she added.
You’re left without direction at a time when you’re most vulnerable
The past 18 months have been hard. Once she had downloaded the Fair Deal application form, the farmer struggled to obtain help from her usual solicitor, accountant or even the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. “You’re left without direction at a time when you’re most vulnerable,” she said. She had to organise bank statements, land valuations and go to court to obtain powers of attorney to access her mother’s savings, which she said took months.
“When I first put together an application, the waiting time was 18 weeks. That’s around €18,000,” she said, wondering how families without that level of savings could cope.
“Now the cash is running out and it comes to the land,” the farmer said. She has started to receive solicitors’ letters from the nursing home for unpaid bills. Yet she hasn’t resigned herself to going through with the Fair Deal application and putting her farm on the line. Proposed legislative changes to protect the next generation’s farm under the scheme could be a lifeline to this family.
Home care package on the cards
While the Fair Deal scheme is under review, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Helen McEntee said last week that she would publish a report on the provision of home care in other countries shortly and open consultations on the establishment of a similar scheme here.
For many farming families, keeping an elderly relative at home is the preferred option – provided they get sufficient help in their daily life.
A Co Kildare drystock farmer who currently cares for her 83-year-old grandmother part of the time, while a home help comes for one hour two mornings a week, said: “I’m tipping in and out to her. But when I’m busy lambing ewes for two or three hours in the morning, I’d prefer if I knew she was up and washed and had her tablets – that her needs were met.”
The family used to get help for one hour five days a week, but this was cut during the recession. In recent weeks, the grandmother’s health has been deteriorating.
When they applied to have the five hours restored, they were told that 26 people were on a waiting list in the county, including 12 in their immediate area.
At €25/hour, they are considering hiring private help to avoid putting their grandmother into a nursing home.
Read more
Full coverage: Fair Deal scheme
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