The proposal to put a cap on the 7.5% nursing home charge for farm assets under the current Fair Deal scheme will hopefully be approved by Government in the next two weeks.

In a statement on the promised legislation in the Dáil, the Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Older People, Jim Daly, said that despite time delays, the proposal was now “at an advanced stage”.

“I hope to bring it to Government in the next two weeks for approval and to proceed to bring the legislation to the House. I hope in the next two weeks it will secure Government,” Minister Daly said.

The current legislation leaves an open-ended 7.5% charge on small businesses and farm assets and can cripple farm families, as farm resources are used to pay high nursing home charges for family members.

The situation has been labelled as “discrimination” by a number of TDs who have been calling for change, and the IFA Farm Family Committee has also been tireless in seeking change to the current legislation.

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