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______________________________________________
For Oral Answer on : 20/10/2022
Question Number(s): 179 Question Reference(s): 52358/22
Department: Health
Asked by: David Stanton T.D.
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QUESTION


To ask the Minister for Health if all sections of the Nursing Home Supports Scheme (Amendment) Act 2021 have been commenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY



The Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Act 2021, which was signed into law on July 22nd by President Higgins, introduced safeguards in the NHSS to further protect the viability and sustainability of family farms and businesses. The principal amendment of this Act ensures that where the owners of farms and businesses go into long-term residential care, their contributions against those assets will be capped at 3 years, providing that a named family successor commits to running the asset for a period of six years and certain other conditions are met. 

The legislation also extended the three-year cap on contributions from the value of a person’s principal residence to the proceeds of sale of that residence, so that a person will be able to sell their home without incurring additional fees from the fourth year onwards. This delivered action 18.7 of the Government’s Housing for All Strategy. 

The amended legislation has been fully operational since 20 October 2021.