Fair Deal calculator Ireland

For a single person, the HSE assesses 80% of your income plus 7.5% a year of your assets above €36,000. For a couple, it is 40% of combined income plus 3.75% a year of combined assets above €72,000. The calculator works out both parts and adds them together. Citizens Information explains the scheme and the HSE sets out the rules in its application form.

Your home counts for the first three years in care only. After that, the contribution is recalculated on your other assets alone, which is why the calculator shows years 1 to 3 and year 4 onwards separately. Over the three years the home contributes up to 22.5% of its value for a single person, or 11.25% for a couple. The figure is an upper limit because the disregard is set against all your assets together.

The person in care keeps at least the greater of 20% of their income and 20% of the maximum State Pension (Non-Contributory). In 2026 the maximum weekly pension at the 66 to 79 rate is €288, so that second figure is €57.60 a week. A spouse who stays at home keeps at least the greater of 50% of the couple's income and €288 a week. Nobody pays more than the cost of care.

Couple means your spouse or partner continues to live at home. Enter your combined income and combined assets. If both of you are going into care, the calculator does not cover your case.

The nursing home loan, also called Ancillary State Support, lets the HSE pay the property-based part of your contribution, usually relating to your home. A charge is placed on the property and the loan is normally repaid on sale or transfer of the property, or within 12 months of death. The calculator does not model the loan, so the weekly figures it shows include the full asset contribution.

It does not model the three-year cap for a qualifying family farm or business. If you enter such assets under other assets they are counted every year, so the result can be higher than the HSE's assessment.