Cost:Elderly people will contribute €178 million a year from 2010 in deferred payments to the State from the value of their homes to pay for nursing-home care. Figures released by the Department of Health and Children last night showed that €103 million will be raised by the new scheme in 2008, rising to €178 million in 2010.
The money will not actually be recouped by the State until after the person has died, and after the death of a spouse, or partner, or dependent child.
The State will place a lien on the property, as the Revenue Commissioners and Department of Social and Family Affairs do in other situations, to ensure the money is eventually paid over.
Under the plan, 5 per cent of the value of the home will be contributed by the person for each of the first three years of their stay in a nursing home. A valuation will be placed on the property at the time a person enters a nursing home, and an appeals mechanism will be created to deal with disagreements over the value set for the house.
The value of the State's deferred share in the home will be linked to the Consumer Price Index to ensure that the sums due are not consumed by inflation, Minister for Health Mary Harney said yesterday.
Describing the plan as "revenue-neutral", Ms Harney said the State is short of approximately 2,000 nursing-home beds, according to international norms. The State spends €648 million on residential care, although this bill will rise by €117 million next year when subvention payments are increased to €300 weekly.
Extra home-care packages will be funded by an €85 million increase in health funding, paid for partly from higher charges for private beds in public hospitals and by the 0.5 per cent rise in the health levy paid by those earning over €100,000 a year.
