Fair Deal scheme: 'I would be better off if I had nothing'

As we await the conclusions of the Fair Deal review from the Department of Health, more farmers are coming forward with stories of hardship under the nursing home support scheme.

The Irish Farmers Journal continues its series highlighting the plight of farmers affected.

“I’m being fleeced by the unfair deal scheme,” 72-year-old Joe Carroll told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Years spent grappling with the poor mental and physical health of his wife Jen, 71, and the difficulties in accessing care for her have taken their toll on the Co Offaly beef farmer – but he is not giving up the fight.

Recent media reports have pointed the finger at farming families for keeping relatives in hospital to protect the farm from heavy nursing-home charges, and Joe is frank about having been in this situation.

“Jen spent a lot of time in Tullamore hospital taking up a bed. They and she were getting frustrated with the idea,” he said.

His options were limited: the HSE offered a home-care assistant for only three half-hour periods per week.

In the end, the Carrolls took the plunge and Jen moved to a nursing home under the Fair Deal scheme two years ago.

The 70ac farm in Kilcormac, the family home and savings left from Joe’s younger dairying days all came into the means testing equation.

Last month, he paid €2,097 of Jen’s €3,804 care costs, with the State covering the remaining €1,707. Joe said these were typical costs, though the exact amount varies every month, depending on her needs.

His work bringing bulls to beef cannot cover such high charges.

“I don’t even have a taxable income – I’m just keeping the show on the road,” he said.

“Today I would be better off if I had nothing.”

The family’s two sons help with farm work, but cannot afford to contribute financially.

Joe’s savings are draining away month after month. “I’ve even tried to get part-time work – at 72,” he said.

Unpaid bills have led to threats of legal proceedings by Jen’s private nursing home.

“I’m in arrears,” Joe said. An option exists to have all costs covered by the Fair Deal scheme and repay the debt from the owner’s estate after their death, but he is resisting it: “That’s effectively a mortgage on the farm.”

He could also sell the block of land across the road from his home, making the farm unviable, or lease out the whole holding.

“But it keeps me going – I love the break of going to the agent, seeing all the cattle there,” he said. His doctor has warned him of the effect years of stress are having on his own health.

Joe is pinning his hopes on the prospect of changes to Fair Deal rules. “I have brilliant support from neighbours. They are telling me: ‘Stick with it, change will come,’” he said.

The value of a family home no longer counts towards means testing after three years in the scheme, and Joe has calculated that applying the same rule to the farm would soon bring his share of Jen’s care costs to €800/month.

“That’s manageable,” he said. The situation has turned him into a campaigner, contacting every TD in the county and beyond. He’s already planning to raise the issue with Mairead McGuinness MEP at the next IFA county AGM.

In a statement to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, the Department of Health re-stated the position given since last September’s Fair Deal review hearings with the IFA and other stakeholders: “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.”

If you have been affected by our series on the Fair Deal scheme, email thubert@farmersjournal.ie or call 01 419 9500.