Attorney General signs off on Fair Deal overhaul

The Attorney General has signed off on a long-awaited overhaul of the Fair Deal scheme to reduce the burden on farm families and small business owners.

It’s over five years since a review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme committed to examining how productive assets are treated under the scheme.

Successive Governments have made commitments to introduce changes to the scheme, which would introduce caps within the financial assessment on farming assets.

Under the current system, farm families and small business owners are required to set aside 7.5pc of the value of their land annually to fund a place in a nursing home.

The new laws will cap contributions based on farm and business assets at three years where a family successor commits to working the productive asset.

The Office of the Attorney General, has been heavily involved in drafting the laws amid concerns over how it will affect property rights.

It is understood much of the legal concern centred on assurances that the assets would remain in the family. Failure to do so would mean the land or business is deemed an ‘investment asset’ rather than a ‘productive asset’.

 

Finalised

However, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, told the Seanad yesterday that the Attorney General has now signed finalised draft of the Bill and that she expects to bring it to the Cabinet in the next two weeks.

“This is quite a technical Bill. There are 26 sections in it. The Attorney General went back to the drafters in the Department of Health seeking 136 clarifications, so there is quite a bit of work on the question of a successor, who is working a farm and all the details that have to be put in place,” Butler said.

The reforms will be welcomed by farming and business communities, who have long argued that the existing regime left inheritances unviable.

Fianna Fáil senator Fiona O’Loughlin said the Fair Deal Scheme is good when it works, but for farm families and the families of small business owners, the system is not fair.

“For most people, the levy is limited to the first three years of the nursing home care but farmers and business owners face indefinite contributions on their assets, which in some cases threatens the very viability of their farm or business,” she said. “We look forward to seeing this implemented.”

Indo Farming