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It appears that further delays are in store for legislative changes to the nursing home Fair Deal scheme.
Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Jim Daly told the Seanad on Wednesday 7 November that it would be 2019 before changes would be passed to apply a three-year cap on nursing home fees for owners of farms or small businesses.
“A number of legal issues and anomalies have arisen and a number of "what if" scenarios have been brought to our attention,” Minister Daly said.
We can proceed to legislate in 2019
“We are working on those challenges behind the scenes but I am hopeful the draft heads will be approved by the Government by the end of the year.
“As soon as the draft heads are approved and published, we can proceed to legislate in 2019.”
The news will disappoint a number of farm families who were expecting legislation to be in place this year to put a cap on nursing home fees.
The Fair Deal nursing home scheme currently includes an open-ended 7.5% annual charge to the value of most assets owned by a person receiving nursing home care, including farmland.
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