Vol. 475 No. 7
209 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of carers who are providing care for more than one person and the estimated number of claimants who may benefit from the additional payment which was announced in the 1997 budget. [5601/97]
The carer's allowance is a social assistance scheme which provides an income maintenance payment to people who are providing elderly or incapacitated pensioners or certain disabled persons with full-time care and attention and whose incomes fall below certain limits. At the end of December last year the numbers availing of the scheme totalled 8,476.
In last January's budget, the Minister announced that provision is being made for the payment of an additional amount equivalent to 50 per cent of their existing entitlement to carers who are providing full-time care and attention to more than one person. This measure will come into effect from next June.
Statistics are not maintained by my Department as to the number of carers who are providing two or more people with full-time care but it has been estimated that it may be as many as one in four.
