Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Oct 1991

Vol. 411 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Social Welfare Matter.

Mr. Nealon

I want to draw the attention of the Minister for Social Welfare to a particular difficulty in the carer's allowance scheme as it affects the parents or carers of adult mentally handicapped persons. I do so on behalf of a number of parents in the Sligo area who belong to the advisory committee to the North Western Health Board on services for the mentally handicapped. This is not the usual complaint about the carer's allowance which, as the Minister knows very well, deals with the stringency of the means test. Indeed, I was very glad to hear the Minister say last week in this House that he was looking at that matter. I hope he will be able to come up with some solution, in the context of the budget or otherwise, which can ease the situation. The concept is excellent but the results are very limited. The problem I am addressing on behalf of the parents and carers of adult mentally handicapped persons is one I think the Minister will be able to resolve. Under the regulations, as presently interpreted, if an adult mentally handicapped person is away for any part of the week, even for a few hours on one day at a day care centre, the parents or carers are no longer deemed to be full time carers and they are thus not eligible to quality for the allowance. I know of no group of people who are more dedicated, self-sacrificing of time and energy and committed that the parents of mentally handicapped persons. Not only do they take on the difficult work of caring but they also organise, fund raise and agitate for better facilities. They try to make provision for the day they will no longer be able to help. I am sure the Minister will agree that they deserve the help and praise of everyone in the community. One great help of extraordinary value to the parents is when the person they are looking after can go, even for a limited time, to a day care centre or a workshop. This enables them to relax for a period, to recharge and to get out to do a variety of things but this very factor, even for half a day on one day of the week, means, on the present interpretation of the regulations, they are no longer full time carers and no longer eligible to qualify for the carer's allowance even if they satisfy the means test.

In the North-Western Health Board area two thirds of all adult mentally handicapped persons are being cared for in their homes. In Cloonamahon and elsewhere there are some excellent day centres and workshops where they can go on a daily basis or for more limited periods but if they avail of this the parents who have them for the rest of the period at weekends and at night, are no longer considered to be full time carers. I know the Minister is a considerate and caring man and I hope it will be possible for him to find a solution to this problem.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

The Deputy has raised the position of adult mentally handicapped persons who attend day care centres or workshops. I want to make it quite clear that once those people are in receipt of a disabled person's maintenance allowance their carers will qualify for the carer's allowance provided they themselves satisfy the means test. If the Deputy has any particular case in mind I would be very keen to get the details of it and to look into it but I would like to assure him, from my position, that is the situation. As I said, if the Deputy would like to bring a particular case to my attention I will follow it up. I am checking the situation in any event.

The carer's allowance which I introduced last year provides a direct payment to people on low incomes who provide full time care and attention for incapacitated social welfare pensioners and recipients of disabled person's maintenance allowance. At the time the scheme was introduced the allowance was payable to people who were providing full time care and attention to social welfare pensioners aged 66 years or over or to recipients of invalidity pension or blind pension regardless of their age. I improved the scheme last July by extending it to cover carers of recipients of disabled person's maintenance allowance and persons getting a pension from another member state of the European Community or from a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement. In addition to the extension, the maximum weekly personal rate was increased from £45 to £50 with effect from last July.

The carer's allowance is the first step in recognising the situation of carers on low incomes and providing them with an income maintenance payment in their own right. The total number of persons currently in receipt of the allowance is 3,585. The estimated cost for this year is £7.8 million. Current claim trends indicate that about 25 per cent of applicants who have not been awarded a carer's allowance are in receipt of another social welfare payment at a higher rate.

As I said at the outset, I generally would consider that the carer of a person who attends a workshop should be included provided that person is in receipt of a disabled person's maintenance allowance. I will certainly pursue that matter but, as I have said, if the Deputy has any particular case in mind, I will have it investigated on receipt of details from him.

The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 October 1991.