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A move by Minister of State at the Department of Health Mary Butler TD to amend the definition of who can act as a family successor under the Fair Deal Scheme has been welcomed by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).
Under the change, cousins, great-nephews, great-nieces and great-grandchildren of either the resident or their partner can now be assigned successor status under the scheme, IFA farm family and social affairs chair Alice Doyle highlighted.
Doyle said these changes are "badly needed", as the current terms have impacted heavily on farm families.
She said that Butler's move now widens the family successor eligibility criteria to extended members of the farm family.
Family successor
Minister Butler said even though cousins have been the main request for inclusion, to avoid challenges and to be consistent all family members with an equivalent order of relationship to the resident will be included to act as a family successor.
The changes are a result of Minister Butler coming across situations where there were quite a few single farmers - male and female - who didn’t have the opportunity to have a next of kin.
“I was just listening to the feedback I was getting from people who tried to avail of Fair Deal making sure we can make it as user-friendly as possible,” said Minister Butler.
Change
According to Doyle, the move is a major change to the Fair Deal Scheme, as it takes unnecessary financial pressures from farm families and ensures that Fair Deal is fair for all.
It’s in line with proposals that the IFA would have made, she said.
The amendment by Minister Butler also provides for the withdrawal or lapsing of an application to address unintended outcomes in relation to the provision for transferred assets.
The 2021 act amended the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, commonly known as Fair Deal, to enhance protections for family farms and businesses.
This introduced a three-year cap on contributions from family farm and business assets, provided that a family successor is appointed to run the asset for at least six years and other conditions are met.
These planned amendments will now go forward to the Dáil.
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