Pat Rabbitte
Question:25 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will amend the 24 hour care rule in regard to eligibility for a carer's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6299/98]
Written Answers - Social Welfare Benefits.
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 persons with disabilities with full-time care and attention, and whose incomes fall below certain limits. At the end of last December, 10,330 people were in receipt of a carer's allowance at a cost of over £36 million in 1997.
Since its introduction in 1990, the allowance has been improved and expanded progressively over the years. As announced in the budget, the weekly personal rate of the carer's allowance is being increased from next June by £5, from £70.50 to £75.50 for those over the age of 66, and £3 for carers under 66 from £70.50 to £73.50.
I have recently reviewed the operation of the condition whereby the carer is required to provide the care recipient with full-time care and attention and have decided to adopt a more flexible approach. Carers may now attend educational or training courses or participate in voluntary or community-based activities for around ten hours per week provided the carer makes adequate provision for the care recipient in his/her absence. These new arrangements come into effect immediately.
In An Action Programme for the Millennium the Government is committed to progressively relaxing the qualifying criteria for the carer's allowance to ensure that more carers can get the benefit; and to increasing the value of the allowance in real terms.
In line with these commitments, an overall review of the carer's allowance is being carried out within my Department. This review is considering the purpose and development of the scheme, both in terms of its current operation and its future development. It will also examine the potential for the development of provision for carers through the social insurance system and the role of the private sector. The review is expected to be completed by the middle of this year and it will be published.
Proinsias De Rossa
Question:26 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will amend the regulations governing companion passes for free travel to allow a parent, who accompanies a child with a disability to a residential school or hospital, to use the pass for the return journey when they are travelling alone. [6304/98]
Free travel is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years, or over, and also to certain people with disabilities under that age. The scheme provides free travel, primarily at off-peak periods, to eligible people on the main public and private transport services. At end of last January, about 505,000 people qualified for free travel at an annual cost of £33 million.
Free travel companion passes have been available since 1990 to persons who qualify for free travel and who, on account of their disability, are unable to travel alone. The free travel companion pass enables a person 16 years of age, or over, to accompany the pass holder free of charge.
Currently, the companion passes are available to the following main groups: recipients of blind person's pension and all blind people who are registered with the National Council/League of the Blind; recipients of disability allowance who are medically certified that they are unfit to travel alone; recipients of invalidity pension who are medically certified that they are permanently wheelchair bound; and persons receiving care from a carer who is in receipt of a carer's allowance.
As announced in the budget, a person aged 75 years, or over, who is medically certified as unfit to travel alone will qualify, for a companion free travel pass. In addition, all carers in receipt of a carer's allowance will qualify for a free travel pass in their own right. These measures will come into effect in September.
Any further extension of the free travel companion pass to allow companions to travel alone would have control and cost implications which would have to be considered in the context of available resources.