A significant majority of people are opposed to older people having to sell or remortgage their home to help pay for long-term care, according to research presented before the Cabinet and seen by The Irish Times. Carl O'Brien and Liam Reid report.
Such equity-release schemes are among a number of options contained in an inter-departmental report being considered by the Government as part of its plans for a new, long-term care system for older people.
The unpublished research by the ESRI, which involved interviews with more than 2,000 people, found that 60 per cent of adults were opposed to any form of equity-release scheme. A small number (3.8 per cent) felt such schemes should be compulsory.
Following a special Cabinet meeting yesterday on the issue of elderly care, Tanaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney said there was "no question" of people being forced to sell their homes to pay for nursing care. However, she said the new strategy would require some families to contribute towards the cost of residential care.
The Cabinet met for an hour to discuss policy options, including the idea that part of the value of people's homes could be taken into account when deciding on how much people will be asked to contribute towards their care.
The Government favours a national means test system to establish what people should contribute towards their care.
People with homes valued over a certain level are likely to have this taken into account when being assessed, a policy that is in place in some schemes at present.
It is expected that the Government will examine how it will allow facilities such as equity-release and deferred-payment schemes to be included in the new measures.
Ms Harney's spokesman stressed, however, that the decision on the method of financing would be one for the individual and their family.
He added that no decisions had been made on the package, and the Cabinet would be considering the issue again in the coming weeks before it was brought to social partnership talks.
Minister for Family Affairs Seamus Brennan has also emphasised that a key part of the plans will be to allow as many older people as possible to remain in home-based or community care.
An increased emphasis on community care and an enhanced carer's allowance are likely to form part of this element of the strategy.
Government officials say that of the 20,000 people in institutional care, 6,000 or 30 per cent could be cared for in their homes with proper support services.
A spokesman for Ms Harney said the Government also believed there was currently "an inconsistent approach between the supports we give people" for public care and for private care.
At present the Government funds 90 per cent of the cost of care in public nursing homes, with individuals asked for 80 per cent of their old-age pension. This compares with funding of 25 per cent for private homes.
The spokesman said the aim was to find a more equitable solution, which the Government believed would need to involve co-financing from individuals or their families.
The ESRI report, Attitudes Towards Long-Term Care of the Elderly, which was commissioned by the Government and discussed at Cabinet, indicates that a majority of adults agree in principle with the idea of sharing costs between the family and the State.
However, while there was support in principle for such funding options, these levels dropped dramatically when respondents were asked how much they were willing to pay on a weekly basis.
When those in favour were asked whether they would support an increase in PRSI contributions worth ?4 a week, (or ?200 a year), almost two-thirds said they would be opposed to such a measure.