Farmers protest against Fair Deal scheme which can eat away their assets in nursing home fees
As assets go, agricultural land is unique, in that it has huge capital value but only a very limited earning capacity.
Dividing the farm between successors is rarely an option, unless the holding is significantly large, and the smaller, divided holdings will rarely be viable to provide an income.
Often, the income from the farm is the only source of income. The family home is often located on the farm, where the sheds and outhouses are also located.
It is seen as a shameful thing to have to sell the farm for whatever reason, especially a farm that has been in the same family for generations.
But some farmers are now being forced to sell land, in order to pay nursing home fees in their old age.
That's why farmers were seen last week in Dublin, protesting over the lack of progress with the Government’s proposed changes that are to be made to the Fair Deal Scheme, which in its current state poses a real threat to Irish farmers.
The cost of financing the Fair Deal scheme is expected to increase substantially in the coming years, due to the country’s ageing population, and Ireland’s other changing trends, with people living longer, and having smaller families.
Proposed changes to the scheme will also see the HSE bear the cost of reduced nursing home contributions for farmers and business owners.
Having a family member who requires nursing home care is a difficult situation for everyone. The first and most important matter that needs to be addressed is your family member’s health and care.
While home help is an excellent service that provides support to people in the community who need help with day-to-day tasks because of illness or disability, it is not sufficient for a person who requires full-time care, and the logical alternative is nursing home care. Simply put, the cost of full-time nursing home care is enormous for any family to bear.
Until now, the Fair Deal's three-year cap on contribution costs only applied to a nursing home resident’s family home
The overhaul of the State’s nursing home scheme will see a three-year cap introduced on farm and business assets which were previously subjected to a continuous 7.5% contribution based on their value. But concern is mounting over the rising cost of funding the Fair Deal for nursing home care, as demand for the scheme soars.
If Fair Deal exceeds its allocated budget, it has been reported that the Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly, will be forced to seek emergency extra funding from the Department of Health.
Farmers are growing increasingly and understandably concerned about losing their assets to the Fair Deal scheme, and are seeking legal advice on transferring to their heirs at a much younger age, so that their assets aren’t taken into account, if and when they need nursing care.
This can be extremely distressing, because farmers do not want to work all their lives and pay taxes, only to lose their farms and their children’s livelihoods, in order to pay for their nursing care in their old age.
Nor do farmers want to hand over the farm to their son or daughter with significant debt attached to it, which would leave their child with substantial repayments while trying to earn a living and raise a family.
The Fair Deal Scheme is unfair, and while we wait for changes to come into law, I encourage farmers to research the matter, and to obtain legal and tax advice well in advance of their most senior years.
