Work out the weekly cost with the calculator and get your document checklist, both at no charge. Or let us fill in the official form, give you the letters that get every document, check each one as it comes in, and keep it all on track until it is posted, for one payment of €79, our introductory price until 16 November. You sign and post it; the HSE decides.
“The calculator and the checklist were fantastic when I was looking for information for my mother.”
“Very good. One of the best sources of information available, and I would highly recommend fairdeal.ie.”
“Very informative. I would recommend it to anyone looking for guidance and help with filling out the forms.”
“A fantastic setup. It is very helpful for us, and recommending it to our families has been very useful.”
Also at no charge: the weekly cost calculator, and agreed weekly prices and the latest HIQA inspection report for every nursing home. Nursing homes do not pay to appear on fairdeal.ie. Find a nursing home
Fair Deal funding is not backdated, so getting the application under way promptly matters.
Everything on the left is at no charge, and some families manage with it. The service is for families who would rather not work it all out and chase every document themselves. Either way, the HSE makes every decision.
Introductory price until 16 November: one payment of €79 including VAT, everything included. No subscription.
Work out your weekly cost Start your checklist
We never ask you to type in PPS numbers or bank balances. What you type into the official HSE form stays on your own device. Documents you upload to your tracker, such as a bank statement, are kept in private storage in Ireland so they can go with your letters, and are deleted with your tracker. The HSE makes all decisions on applications and funding.
Enter what you know and the figure updates as you type. Nothing is stored and you never give your name.
Is the person in hospital now, waiting for a nursing home place? Start here: the ward timeline and what to do this week.
Fair Deal uses the same three rules for everyone. The calculator applies them exactly as the HSE describes them. Couples are assessed on half of their combined income and assets.
You contribute 80% of weekly income after tax and allowable deductions. For a couple that is 80% of half the combined income. The rest stays with you.
You contribute 7.5% of the value of assets each year after the first €36,000 is set aside (€72,000 for a couple). Savings, shares, property, land and anything given away in the last five years all count.
The home is counted for three years only, so you never pay more than 22.5% of its value. The nursing home loan lets you defer that part until after death, so nobody has to sell.
A complete application is usually decided in four to six weeks. Funding starts on the date of approval and is never backdated, so every week matters.
Missing paperwork is the main cause of delay.
A nurse or doctor confirms long-term care is needed.
The HSE works out the weekly contribution.
State support starts from the approval date.
No. It is an estimate using the published rules and the figures you entered. The HSE's financial assessment uses your documents and may treat some items differently. Use it to plan, not as the final number.
No. The part of the contribution that comes from property can be deferred through the nursing home loan. The HSE pays it, registers a charge on the property, and it is repaid from the estate after death. If a spouse or certain relatives still live in the house, repayment can be deferred further.
The family home and Fair Deal · See the figure with and without the house
The family home stops being counted and the weekly contribution falls to the income and savings portions only. The calculator shows both figures.
The three-year cap explained · The calculator shows both figures
Around four to six weeks once the HSE has a complete application, longer if the nursing home loan is needed or the applicant cannot sign. Funding is not backdated.
How long it takes, and what could waiting cost · Start the checklist
They can also be capped at three years, but only where a family successor commits to keep running them for six years, and it must be applied for. Without that they are counted at 7.5% a year indefinitely. Worth a solicitor's advice.
Farms and businesses under Fair Deal · Ask us to ring you back
More questions answered, including applying for a parent with dementia, what happens when there are no savings, and missing bank statements.
Homes on fairdeal.ie set up a family in seconds and follow every application from one screen. Families get careful, consistent help with the paperwork, under the home’s own name, and the home sees where each application stands.
Your staff see where each application stands without seeing the family’s private financial details. There is no charge to the home, and no home pays to appear in our nursing home pages.
Two minutes, no name, nothing stored. Scroll up and try it, or read the guides below.
Open the calculator