A farmer has slammed the Fair Deal nursing home scheme after he may have to sell his farm to pay his wife’s nursing home bills.
Joe Carroll is protesting on Tuesday outside the Department of Health along with the Irish Farmers' Association against the injustice caused because of the scheme.
His wife Jane was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2013 and eventually had to be moved to a nursing home to receive full-time care.
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The Offaly farmer told the Irish Independent: “I’ve always paid my bills. More than that, when we had good years milking cows, I made sure to have some savings.
“They were to help my other two children, the ones not getting the farm.”
But Mr Carroll now has to pay €20,000 a year in nursing home bills for his wife and is worried that his savings will be gone.
He added: “Then we face a sign being put up outside the farm to pay the fees.”
The Fair Deal Scheme states that farm and small business owners can face 7.5% of their assets being used annually to pay nursing home bills with no three year cap.
The legislation was expected to change in the last Budget but it didn’t.
Mr Carroll is worried that unless there’s a change, he won’t be able to leave the farm to his son.
He recently had to go to hospital after he felt a tightness in his chest while checking his livestock.
The hardworking farmer said: "I was out checking the bulls and the tightness in my chest meant I had to stop walking."
Mr Carroll ended up getting a stent fitted and will be getting a knee operation in a few weeks.
He said: “I couldn’t manage without the kindness of others – the local vet, agri-merchants and contractors are always waiting to be paid.
“I’ve always been able to pay. Now I’m dependent on the generosity of others, but that debt is always in the background.”
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