FARMERS ARE being discriminated against under the terms of the Nursing Home Support Scheme 2009 as the cap on payments do not apply to farmland, a farm organisation claimed yesterday.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) called on Minister for Health Dr James Reilly to immediately reconsider the reimbursement provisions in the scheme.
It said the Act specified the cost of nursing home care of those who cannot afford to pay will be recouped after their death, to a maximum amount of 5 per cent of their assets per year of nursing home care.
“In the case of a householder, this reimbursement has been capped at 15 per cent. However, ICSA has learned, except in the case of a sudden illness requiring immediate and unforeseen nursing home care, the 15 per cent cap does not apply to farmland, and the 5 per cent per annum continues for the duration of the stay in a nursing home,” it said.
The age profile of Irish farmers means that this matter will become even more of an issue in the coming years as 56 per cent are aged 45 and over, while only 12 per cent are under 35, the ICSA statement said.
“This would show that in the coming years a vast majority of Irish farmers will come into the age bracket where they may require full-time residential care and therefore applicable to the ‘three year’ cap,” it said.
“Successors to the family farm could face bills of half the value of the farm or more where there was a prolonged stay in a nursing home, and this would effectively eliminate young farmers in particular from continuing in farming as the situation would not be viable,” said John Barron, rural development chairman of the ICSA.
“Not only that, but a transfer of the farm prior to death to a successor could be set aside if a period of five years had not elapsed between the date of the transfer and the date of death, and the nursing home charges would remain as a charge on the land,” said Mr Barron.
“This is a most intolerable situation, especially for young farmers who had hoped to succeed to the family farm, and I am calling on the new Minister to immediately remedy this injustice. This is incredibly discriminatory to Irish farmers,” he concluded.