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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 12 Jun 2001

Vol. 537 No. 5

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Jack Wall

Question:

430 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans he has to bring the carer's allowance payment into line with the minimum wage payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16817/01]

Jack Wall

Question:

432 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the cost of the abolition of the means test on the carer's allowance payment; the plans he has in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16831/01]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 430 and 432 together.

The carer's allowance is a means tested payment for carers on low income who look after people in need of full-time care and attention.

In budget 2001, I made provision for a substantial increase from April 2001 in the income disregards in the carer's allowance means test from £75 to £125 for a single person and from £150 to £250 for a couple. This will enable more than 5,000 new carers to qualify for the carer's allowance and almost 3,000 existing carers to receive an increased payment.

The effect of this increase will ensure that a couple with two children, earning a joint income in the region of £15,100, will qualify for the maximum rate of carer's allowance while a couple in receipt of £26,000 will qualify for the minimum carer's allowance, plus the free schemes and respite care grant.

With regard to the rate of payment, I made provision for substantial rate increases of £8 for carers aged under 66 and £10 for carers aged over 66. This brings the maximum rate for a carer under 66 years of age to £88.50 per week and the rate for a carer aged over 66 years to £98.50 per week. It is not possible to estimate the cost of increasing the rate of carer's allowance in line with the national minimum wage rate. The carer's allowance is a weekly income support payment that supports someone who is providing full-time care whereas the minimum wage rate is based on an hourly rate of £4.40 and not on a weekly rate.

The means test applied to the carer's allowance is one of the more flexible tests in terms of the assessment of household incomes. These income disregards already exceed the income limits for the minimum wage rate for joint income households and ensure that carers receive a maximum allowance. As I announced in my budget speech, I envisage moving towards what I see as the optimum situation, whereby all carers, whose joint family income is at average industrial earnings, will qualify for carer's allowance at the maximum rate.
In view of the many supports required by carers, particularly in the community care and respite care areas, I do not consider that abolition of the means test, at a cost in the region of £180 million, is the best way to support carers or the best use of resources.
Government policy is strongly in favour of supporting care in the community and enabling people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. However, the State cannot, and would not wish to replace the personal support and care provided within the family and the community. Therefore, its primary role is to provide adequate support to carers and to those for whom they are caring, to enable them to remain in their own communities.
The development of the range of supports for carers will continue to be a priority for this Government and, building on the foundations now in place, we will continue to develop the types of services which recognise the value of the caring ethos and which provide real support and practical assistance to people who devote their time to improving the quality of life for others. The question of further improvements to the carer's allowance and for carers generally will be considered in a budgetary context, taking account of our key priorities in the care area, as set out in the review of our action programme.

Jack Wall

Question:

431 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will investigate the provision of financial assistance to family carers on a statutory basis for clothing, heating and dietary provisions for families who need such assistance to ensure a proper standard of living for the family member being cared for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16819/01]

The carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people who are providing certain elderly or incapacitated persons with full-time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a certain limit. Carer's allowance is paid by my Department and as with other social assistance schemes, a means test is applied to ensure that limited resources are directed to those in greatest need.

The other forms of financial assistance referred to by the Deputy are catered for under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance – SWA – scheme. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and neither I nor my Department has any function in deciding entitlement in individual cases.
The SWA scheme consists of a number of different types of payment, including supplements which may be paid in respect of such needs as diet or heating requirements. Social welfare or health board recipients who have a special dietary requirement arising from a health condition and whose means are insufficient to meet this need, may qualify for a diet supplement payment under the SWA scheme. Entitlement to payment is determined by health boards by reference to standard costed diets. The supplement paid is in respect of the additional cost of the special diet over and above the amount a person would be expected to pay for a normal diet.
Similarly, there is a facility available through the SWA scheme to assist people in certain circumstances who have special heating needs.
Under the SWA scheme, a health board may also make a single payment to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which applicants could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. These payments are known as exceptional needs payments, ENPs. Eligible people would normally be in receipt of a social welfare or health board payment, such as carer's allowance.
Where a person would not normally qualify for a heating supplement there is provision under the SWA scheme to provide assistance by means of an ENP. Also, the guidelines issued to the health boards by my Department on ENPs state that a single payment for the purpose of replacement of clothing and footwear may be considered in special circumstances, such as where the claimant or one of his dependants is suffering from a chronic ailment or serious disease which gives rise to a need for extra clothing or special footwear from time to time.
Under legislation an assessment of all means and needs must be carried out to determine entitlement to SWA. There is no automatic right of entitlement to an ENP. They are payable at the discretion of the health board taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.
An application for assistance under the terms of the SWA scheme by way of a supplement or an ENP in respect of special dietary, clothing or heating needs may be made by contacting the community welfare officer at the local health centre
Question No. 432 answered with Question No. 430.
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