Vol. 562 No. 4
440 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position in relation to the extent to which carer's allowance is means tested in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6515/03]
My Department has no record of a claim for carer's allowance from the person in question. Carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people on low income who look after people in need of full-time care and attention. As with all other social assistance schemes, a means test is applied to the income of the applicant and his or her spouse or partner when determining entitlement. The means test has been eased significantly in the past few years, most notably with the introduction of disregards of income from employment and other sources. The current income disregard for single carers is €191 per week and €382 per week for couples. In budget 2003, there was a further increase in the income disregards in the carer's allowance means test. The disregard for single carers increased to €210 per week while the disregard for couples increased to €420 per week. These improvements take effect from April 2003.
