Fair Deal — Frequently Asked Questions

Fair Deal is the everyday name for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS), a state scheme that helps pay for long-term nursing home care in Ireland. The HSE pays part of the weekly fee and you pay a contribution based on a financial assessment of your income and assets. It applies to public, private, and voluntary nursing homes registered with HIQA.

Anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland (lived here for at least one year, or planning to) who has been assessed as needing long-term nursing home care. Age and means do not matter for eligibility — your contribution is calculated separately.

No. Fair Deal funding only covers long-term care. Respite, convalescent, day-care, and short stays are paid for separately.

You can choose any HIQA-registered nursing home (public, private, or voluntary) that has a place available and can meet your assessed care needs. The scheme pays the agreed cost of care; if you pick a home that charges extra for non-care services (hairdressing, therapies, activities), those are paid separately.

Your weekly contribution is 80% of your assessable weekly income, plus 7.5% of the value of your assessable assets. For a couple, half of the joint income and assets is assessed against the partner in care.

Assessable income includes pensions (State, occupational, foreign), employment / self-employment, rental income, dividends, interest, royalties, settlement payments, and farm or business income. Allowable deductions like income tax, USC, PRSI, mortgage interest on your home, and qualifying health expenses are subtracted before the 80% calculation.

Assets include cash savings, bank/credit union/post office balances, shares, life assurance values, and the market value of property. The first €36,000 (or €72,000 for a couple) is excluded. After that, 7.5% of the assessable balance is added to your weekly contribution.

The HSE assesses 7.5% of your home's value, but only for the first three years (the "3-year cap"). After 3 years, your home is no longer counted, even if you stay longer. The 3-year cap applies automatically — you do not need to apply for it.

It is an optional element of Fair Deal that lets you defer paying the part of your contribution that comes from land or property until after you die or sell. The HSE registers a charge against the property to secure the deferred amount, which is repayable from the estate. You apply for it in Part 5 of the form.

Within 12 months of your death (or 6 months if you sell or transfer the property earlier). The loan amount is adjusted by the Consumer Price Index. Connected persons (spouse, partner, or relatives meeting strict conditions) may apply to defer repayment further.

You can apply for the 3-year cap on a family-owned and operated farm or "relevant business" in Part 6. This caps the farm or business contribution at 3 years instead of being assessed indefinitely. There are strict conditions — the farm/business must be family-owned and operated, with a proposed family successor.

On average, 4–6 weeks from when the HSE receives a complete application — sometimes faster, sometimes longer if documents are missing. Stages: (1) you submit the application; (2) HSE arranges a care needs assessment by a healthcare professional; (3) financial assessment is calculated; (4) you receive a decision letter.

No. Funding starts only from the date your application is approved. You cannot recover fees paid to a nursing home before approval. Apply as early as possible if you anticipate needing care.

Yes. A spouse / partner, child over 18, registered medical practitioner, registered nurse, registered social worker, Committee of a Ward of Court, or Decision-Making Representative can apply as a "specified person" (Part 2B and Part 4B of the form). They take on serious legal obligations under the NHSS Act 2009.

You sign a contract of care with your chosen nursing home and start receiving care. The HSE pays the home directly; you pay your contribution either to the home or, if you took the loan, the home is paid by the HSE and you repay later.

Yes. Fair Deal funding follows you to another HIQA-registered nursing home. You apply for a transfer through your local HSE Nursing Homes Support Office.

It depends on what you declare, but typically: identity / PPS evidence, the last 3 months of bank, credit union, and post office statements, recent pension award letter, P60 / Revenue Notice of Assessment, current valuation of your home from a registered auctioneer, current mortgage statement, and 12 months of medical receipts. The wizard generates a personalised checklist as you fill in each section.

The HSE will not accept self-assessed estimates. You need a written Certificate of Market Value from a registered auctioneer or valuer dated within the last 6 months. Estate agent informal estimates are not accepted.

Yes if you are married, in a civil partnership, or co-habiting. The HSE assesses joint income and assets and applies half to the partner in care. Spouse / partner PPS and date of birth are mandatory.

If you have a co-decision-making agreement registered with the Decision Support Service (under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act), the co-decision-maker must complete Part 7 of the form. You'll need a certified copy of the registered agreement.

Yes. The HSE only requires one contribution per couple at a time, capped at the cost of care for the partner who needs it. The form asks for details of the other partner's care arrangement so the HSE can adjust the calculation.

Holding a Medical Card, GP Visit Card, Long-Term Illness Card, or Drugs Payment Scheme Card does not affect your Fair Deal eligibility — but you must declare it on the form. Health Amendment Card holders should contact their local Liaison Officer first.

Qualifying redress payments are typically excluded from your assessable cash assets. You must still declare the payment in Part 3 and provide a statement from the State body that paid it.

We turn the 40-page HSE Fair Deal application into a guided online wizard. Answer plain-English questions, the wizard auto-fills the official HSE form (Parts 1-7), produces a personalised document checklist based on your answers, and runs an AI quality check before you download. You print the completed pack and post it to your local HSE Nursing Homes Support Office.

No. FairDealWizard is an independent preparation tool. We are not the HSE and do not make funding decisions. Our job is to help you complete a clean, complete application pack — the HSE makes the determination on your contribution and funding.

€89 inclusive of VAT, paid only at the end when you are ready to download your completed application. The wizard, AI tooltips, document checklist, and AI Health Check are all included — no add-ons.

Your wizard answers and uploaded documents are stored encrypted on Microsoft Azure servers in the EU. Documents you upload are automatically deleted 90 days after you download your completed pack. We never sell your data and only share it with the processors required to deliver the service (Stripe for payment, Anthropic for the AI Health Check, Brevo for email). See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Once you have downloaded the completed application pack, the digital service has been delivered and refunds are not generally available. If you have technical problems before downloading, contact us and we will resolve them or refund you. See our Refund Policy.

No — we are a preparation tool, not a guarantor of approval. The HSE makes the final determination on your application based on its own assessment. We help you fill the form correctly, but eligibility is the HSE's decision.