The financial assessment is Part 3 of the application form, and it is the part that decides the money. The Nursing Homes Support Office takes the applicant’s income and assets, applies the published rules, and arrives at a weekly contribution. Everything else, including whether the person qualifies for care at all, is decided separately.
Rule one: 80% of income
The applicant contributes 80% of their assessable weekly income. For a couple, it is 40% of the couple’s combined income, which comes to the same thing as half the means. Income means all of it:
- State pension, including the contributory and non-contributory pensions, and any other social welfare payment.
- Occupational and private pensions, and annuities.
- Earnings from work, where there are any.
- Rent from any property, and income from a farm or business.
- Interest and dividends.
- Income from abroad.
What is deducted first: income tax, PRSI and USC; mortgage interest on the family home; rent on the home where it is rented; maintenance payments made under a court order or agreement; Local Property Tax; health expenses that qualify for tax relief, such as prescriptions and doctor’s fees; and the cost of a dependent child in full-time education. The applicant keeps 20% of the income that remains, or the equivalent of 20% of the maximum State pension, whichever is higher; that is the personal allowance.
Rule two: 7.5% of assets a year
Each year, 7.5% of the value of the applicant’s assets is added to the contribution, divided by 52 to give a weekly figure. The first €36,000 is disregarded (€72,000 for a couple). Assets means:
- Savings and deposits, including credit union shares, An Post and State Savings, prize bonds.
- Shares, bonds, investment funds and the surrender value of investment policies.
- The family home, any other house or apartment, land, a farm, a business, and property abroad.
- Anything of the above given away or sold for less than its value in the five years before the application.
Debts secured on an asset, such as a mortgage, are taken off that asset’s value. Personal belongings, the car and household contents are not assessed. If the applicant needs care for a long time, the 7.5% keeps being charged on cash assets every year; it is the home, farm and business that are capped.
Rule three: the home counts for three years
The family home is assessed at 7.5% a year for three years and then stops being counted, so after three years the weekly contribution falls. The three years are counted from the date care starts, not the date of approval. Where one of a couple is still living in the home, the home is assessed at half its value and for three years at most. The same three-year cap applies to a family farm or business where a successor signs up to run it for six years; our guide to the three-year cap has the detail.
The part of the contribution that comes from the home does not have to be paid now. The nursing home loan defers it until the house is sold or the estate is settled, so nobody has to sell the house to pay for care. Our guide answers do you have to sell the house directly.
Couples
Where the applicant is married, in a civil partnership or has lived with a partner for three years, the couple’s income and assets are added together and the applicant is assessed on half. The partner at home keeps the other half, with the home assessed at half its value. If both partners go into care, each is assessed on half. Our couples guide works through an example.
A worked example
A widow with a State pension of €289 a week and an occupational pension of €150 a week, savings of €60,000 and a home worth €300,000:
- Income: €439 a week, less tax; say €420 net. 80% is €336.
- Savings: €60,000 less the €36,000 disregard is €24,000. 7.5% is €1,800 a year, €35 a week.
- Home: €300,000 at 7.5% is €22,500 a year, €433 a week, for three years only and deferrable through the loan.
Contribution: about €804 a week for the first three years, falling to about €371 once the home drops out. At a nursing home charging €1,300 a week the HSE pays the rest. The calculator does this for your own figures, in two minutes, with no name and nothing stored.
What the HSE checks
The office does not take the figures on trust. It asks for six months of statements for every account, proof of each income, and a valuation of every property, and it can check pension and social welfare figures directly. Where the statements show money moving to another account or to a family member, it asks about that too. A complete, consistent Part 3 is decided in weeks; one with gaps is sent back, and funding is never backdated, so the weeks of delay are paid privately.
Reviews and appeals
The assessment is not fixed for life. The applicant or the HSE can ask for a review when circumstances change, and the HSE may review it after twelve months in any case. A review is worth asking for when income falls, an asset is sold, or savings have been spent on care. If you think the figure is wrong, any decision can be appealed within 40 working days; see appealing a Fair Deal decision.
Questions families ask
Is the financial assessment a means test?
Yes. It decides how much the applicant pays each week towards the cost of care; the HSE pays the rest. It does not decide whether the person qualifies for care, which is the separate care needs assessment.
Does my own income count if my parent is applying?
No. Only the applicant’s means count, or half the combined means of a couple where the applicant is married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting. A son or daughter’s income and savings are never assessed.
What about money given to the children?
Anything given away in the five years before the application is counted as if it were still held. A gift of €20,000 to a grandchild three years ago is still €20,000 in the assessment.
Is the family home counted forever?
No. The home is counted at 7.5% a year for three years at most. After that it drops out and the weekly contribution falls. The same cap applies to a family farm or business where a successor undertakes to run it.
Can the assessment be reviewed?
Yes. Either side can ask for a review if circumstances change, and the HSE can review it in any case after twelve months. A fall in income, a sale, or money spent on care are reasons to ask.
What if we disagree with the figure?
Any decision under the scheme can be appealed in writing within 40 working days. Our guide to appeals explains how.
Sources
Guidance reviewed on 3 November 2026 against the HSE’s published rules for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme. Official information and the application form: hse.ie. fairdeal.ie is independent and is not the HSE.