Older people and carers

Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Fair Deal), including the Nursing Home Loan

Fair Deal helps pay for long-term care in a nursing home. Your parent pays a set weekly amount based on their income and assets, and the HSE pays the rest of the fee.

Checked against the official pages on 19 September 2026.

What it is

Fair Deal, officially the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, helps pay for long-term care in public, private and voluntary nursing homes registered with HIQA. You pay a contribution based on income and assets. The HSE pays the rest.

It does not cover respite, convalescent or day care, or extras like hairdressing. If your parent owns property, the optional Nursing Home Loan lets them delay the property part until after death.

What it is worth

A single person pays 80% of income, plus 7.5% a year of assets over €36,000. The home only counts for 3 years. The contribution stays the same whatever the nursing home charges.

Who can get it

Anyone who needs long-term nursing home care can apply.

They must be ordinarily resident in the State. That means living here for at least 1 year, or intending to live here for at least 1 year.

They must pass the care needs assessment, which decides if long-term nursing home care is the best option. It also looks at whether they could be supported to keep living at home.

The financial assessment is not a pass or fail test. It sets how much your parent pays. But if the assessed contribution is higher than the nursing home's cost, they may not be eligible at that time.

A couple means a married couple, or partners living together for at least 3 years. The assessment counts your parent's income and their partner's. It never counts the income of children or other relatives.

The asset allowance of €36,000 (or €72,000 for a couple) comes off cash assets first, then property.

Assets given away in the 5 years before applying, or after applying, are still counted.

Deductions allowed include income tax, USC and PRSI, health expenses after tax relief, maintenance paid, interest on home loans, property tax, dependent children in full-time education, certain redress payments, loans to buy, repair or improve an asset, and rent paid by a partner still living in rented housing.

If your parent rents out their own home, that rent can be fully exempt. Apply on the Principal Private Residence Rental Income form. Rent from any other property counts as ordinary income (80% for a single person).

For the Nursing Home Loan, your parent must own property or land in the State.

What your parent keeps

The financial assessment has safeguards built in:

• Nobody pays more than the actual cost of care.
• Your parent keeps a personal allowance of 20% of their income, or 20% of the maximum State Pension (Non-Contributory), whichever is more.
• A spouse or partner who stays at home keeps 50% of the couple's income, or the maximum State Pension (Non-Contributory), whichever is more.
• If both members of a couple go into nursing home care, each keeps at least 20% of their income, or 20% of the maximum State Pension (Non-Contributory), whichever is more.

The Nursing Home Loan and the family home

The loan's official name is Ancillary State Support. It covers the part of the weekly contribution based on property or land in the State. The HSE pays it to the nursing home, so your parent does not need to sell the home to pay for care.

It is secured by a charge on the property in favour of the HSE. Both members of a couple must sign. It is optional, and your parent can change their mind before accepting it.

The loan is repaid to the Revenue Commissioners, not the HSE, normally after death. It can be repaid early at any time. The amount is adjusted for inflation (or deflation) using the Consumer Price Index.

After death, the rules now allow 18 months to repay before interest is charged. This changed from 12 months on 5 September 2026, so some older HSE and Revenue documents still say 12 months. If your parent died before 5 September 2026, ask Revenue which period applies. If it is repaid late, interest of 0.0219% a day is charged, counted back to the date of death.

The loan must also be repaid if the property is sold or transferred (tell the office within 10 working days and repay within 6 months), if your parent or their partner is declared bankrupt, or if false information was given.

Repayment can be put off if the loan was on the main home and a spouse, partner or certain relatives still live there. Relatives who can qualify include a child under 21, a child or sibling with assets of €36,000 or less, a relative on a disability payment or the State Pension (Non-Contributory), and a carer who got a carer's payment for looking after your parent. The house must be their only home, they must have lived there for at least 3 years before the loan application, and they must own no other property.

Before a nursing home: could they stay at home?

The care needs assessment asks whether your parent could be supported to keep living at home. If that is a real option, look at HSE home support for care, and the council's Housing Adaptation Grant for changes to the house such as a stairlift or level-access shower.

What you’ll need

• The form: Nursing Homes Support Scheme, Application form and support information (Version 4, December 2025, 40 pages). The document checklist is on page 11. An Irish version is also available
• Parts 1 to 4 are for everyone. Part 5 is the optional Nursing Home Loan. Parts 6 and 7 only apply to some people
• PPS number (mandatory) and Eircode
• Bank statements for the last 6 months, for every account
• Proof of pensions: a bank statement showing the pension, an An Post receipt or a Department of Social Protection letter. For foreign pensions, the latest payslip or letter. For occupational pensions, a payslip, P60 or certificate
• Proof of any earnings: a recent payslip or Revenue Notice of Assessment
• Rental income: the rental agreement and latest Revenue Notice of Assessment
• Statements or certificates for any directorship, dividend, interest, settlement, maintenance or royalty income
• Income or cash given away in the last 5 years: a signed affidavit or statement with dates and amounts
• Farm or business: the previous year's accounts or Notice of Assessment, and details of any Department of Agriculture grants
• Current statements and values for shares, bonds and ARFs
• A current valuation of the home and any other property from a registered auctioneer or valuer. If your parent only has a right of residence, the legal document. If they rent, the rental agreement
• Property given away in the last 5 years: the date, market value, amount received and who it went to
• Proof of deductions: loan statements and agreements, 12 months of health expense receipts, a pharmacist's statement for prescription or Drugs Payment Scheme charges, mortgage statement, rent receipts, maintenance agreement, property tax proof, child expense details and redress statements
• For the Nursing Home Loan (Part 5): proof of ownership (folio number, deeds or lease), mortgage or charge statements or lender consent, a death certificate where relevant, separation or divorce documents, and life loan details if there is one
• For the 3-year cap on a farm or business (Part 6): everything in Part 5, plus a Land Registry compliant map if the home is on the same folio
• If someone signs for your parent: proof of their appointment, such as ward of court, registered enduring power of attorney or decision-making representative

How to apply

1. Contact the nursing home your parent prefers as early as you can, to check for a place. They may have a waiting list. Your parent can go to another home for now and ask for a transfer later.
2. Get the application form. Download it from www2.hse.ie or ask your local Nursing Homes Support Office. Staff there can help you fill it in.
3. Fill in and sign Parts 1 to 4. Add Part 5 if your parent wants the Nursing Home Loan. Signing the form applies for both the care needs assessment and financial support.
4. Send the form and documents to your local Nursing Homes Support Office. Addresses are on the HSE contact page and on page 37 of the form. The HSE will confirm it got your application.
5. The HSE arranges a care needs assessment, in hospital or at home, by a healthcare professional such as a geriatrician, public health nurse or occupational therapist. It looks at daily tasks, independence, memory and thinking, and whether your parent could be supported at home. You get the report and a written decision.
6. The HSE does the financial assessment and writes to confirm how much your parent will pay. A second letter confirms funding approval.

Key dates and how long it takes

• There is no deadline. You can apply at any time.
• No backdating. Funding starts from the date of approval.
• The HSE does not publish a processing time. It says processing can take some time depending on your circumstances.
• The Nursing Home Loan can sometimes take several months. Apply for it at the same time as Fair Deal and both are paid from the same date. If you apply for the loan later, it is paid from the date the loan is approved.
• You can ask for a financial review 12 months after the first assessment or the last review. The HSE can review at any time.
• Tell the Nursing Homes Support Office within 10 working days about changes such as selling an asset, an inheritance, extra income, the death of a partner or a separation. You can be fined if you do not.
• If the assessment finds your parent does not need long-term care, they must wait 6 months to reapply, unless their health or circumstances change.

Who to contact

If you are turned down

• You can appeal within 40 working days (about 8 weeks) of the decision.
• Email nationalappeals@hse.ie, or post to National Appeals Service, HSE, Ballyshannon Health Campus, An Clochar, College Street, Ballyshannon, County Donegal, F94 TPX4.
• Include your contact details, your parent's name, address, date of birth and PPS number, the 6 digit reference on the decision letter, why you think the decision is wrong, and any documents that help.
• You can appeal the care needs result, a decision not to consider an application or not to carry out a financial assessment, the State support result, the loan result and the result of a review.
• An appeal decision can be taken further to the High Court on a point of law. You can also go to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Things people miss

• Apply as soon as long-term care looks likely. Funding is never backdated.
• Apply for the Nursing Home Loan on the same form if your parent might want it. It can take months, and a later application only pays from the date the loan is approved. Your parent does not have to accept it.
• If your parent may lose the ability to make decisions, put a registered enduring power of attorney in place while they still can. Without one, a court appointed decision-making representative may be needed, and the court order must specifically cover the loan and family farm decisions.
• Ask the nursing home what extra charges it makes, for things like hairdressing, therapies or activities. Fair Deal does not cover them. They go in the contract and must be agreed before your parent moves in.
• Fees paid privately, and Nursing Home Loan repayments, can get health expenses tax relief. Relief on nursing home fees is at the highest rate of tax paid, up to 40%, if the home has 24-hour on-site nursing care. There must be income tax to claim against.
• If a family member gets Carer's Allowance for your parent, it continues for 12 weeks after your parent moves into a nursing home full time. Send the Department of Social Protection a letter from the nursing home with the date of admission.
• Keep copies of everything you send. The HSE needs every document to complete the financial assessment, and missing information delays the application.

Common questions