Madam, – The Property supplement (February 4th) highlights the utility of timely transfer of the family home in order to avoid inheritance tax. However, it fails to consider the implications of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act (the “Fair Deal”) .
Up to one-third of us will spend some time in extended nursing care before we die: the Fair Deal allows for 15 per cent of the value of the family home to be used to partially fund this care. This cost can be deferred and recovered from a person’s estate after death – in effect, the State takes a financial interest in the family home until a patient dies.
Age Action Ireland and other elder advocacy groups have opposed the Fair Deal in its present form, describing it as a selective inheritance tax on those of us who will require long-term care. The Property supplement reminds us that older people will not eschew creative ways of “spending-down” in order to avoid these financial penalties.
The problem of funding long-term care, the State’s solution, and the citizen’s response to this solution, suggest an urgent need for debate regarding how we value our ageing population, and how we might provide for them. It is a sad reflection on the Celtic Tiger that after a decade of economic growth we are unable to provide for our most vulnerable, at a most critical time of their lives. Until we first establish the values we might cherish as a society, and articulate them, the contract between citizen and State will remain brittle. – Yours, etc,