Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Jim Daly will bring a memo to Cabinet this month to limit nursing home charges applicable to farm property to three years.

The Fair Deal 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.

Farmers have highlighted the burden of the charge on their families as it would wipe out the entire value of their farm if they spent 13 years or more in a nursing home.

For the past three years, farming organisations have advocated for Fair Deal rules to be relaxed, with the IFA campaigning for productive assets such as farmland to be taken out of the charges calculation.

Minister Daly has instead opted to end charges applicable to the assets of small businesses, including farms, after three years, a rule already applicable in case of sudden illness.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the Attorney General’s office has advised this option was less likely to cause legal difficulties.

“We’re as happy as can be and would prefer to see this move ahead rather than risk further delays by seeking more technical improvements,” IFA farm family chair Caroline Farrell told the Irish Farmers Journal after a meeting with Minister Daly this Wednesday.

Once approved by Cabinet, the three-year asset cap will be drafted into heads of legislation to go before the Oireachtas this year, with a view to implementing it, along with appropriate funding, in the next budget.

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