Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
1206 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health if, under the fair deal scheme for nursing home care, a bigger portion of the proceeds of the house can be taken rather than the current deductions. [17763/12]
View answerIndividuals in receipt of financial support under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme contribute 80% of their income and 5% of the value of any assets (including their principal residence) per annum towards the cost of their nursing home care. The principal residence is only included in the financial assessment for the scheme for the first three years that a person is in nursing home care. This is known as the three year cap.
The percentages referred to above are prescribed in the primary legislation underpinning the scheme, the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009. In order to decrease the percentage of income and increase the percentage of the principal residence that is taken into account, the Act would need to be amended by further primary legislation. The Nursing Homes Support Scheme will be three years in operation in October 2012 and will be reviewed shortly. The reason for allowing this period to elapse is to ensure that trends and statistics will be available in order to inform the work. The review will look at, amongst other issues:
the ongoing sustainability of the scheme,
the relative cost of public versus private provision,
the effectiveness of current methods of negotiating price in private and setting price in public nursing homes, and
the balance of funding between residential and community care.
The views of relevant stake-holders will be considered as part of the review.
