An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business Seanad Éireann — 2020-11-11 ============================================================ Malcolm Byrne (FF), Cultural and Educational Panel I echo the remarks of Senator Garvey relating to ASD units. I also echo the remarks of Senator Ó Donnghaile. It was telling that US President-elect Biden called just six leaders last night and one of those was the Taoiseach. I hope that is a sign of the continued strong relationship between Ireland and the United States. I raise the question of the fair deal scheme and the long-standing commitment to address the discrimination against farms and small businesses. Members are aware that those who avail of the fair deal scheme see assets charged at a rate of 7.5%, and this is capped after three years for the family home. This does not apply to family farms and small businesses. This is clearly a disincentive when it comes to succession and inheritance, and it is also quite worrying for many families. A family member may have to go to a nursing home, for example, because of age or potentially degenerative illness, which would be worse. There has been a commitment for six years from the Government to address this. I know the heads of a Bill were prepared prior to the general election for this to be done. As I understand it, the matter rests with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and I ask that it be regarded as a priority. There are only approximately 700 farm families currently availing of the fair deal scheme. The lack of certainty and a failure to deliver on something that was a very clear Government commitment is a matter of concern. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has said it is a priority but I ask that the matter be stressed to the Government. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2020-11-11/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:46+00:00 Sitting date: 2020-11-11