Reform of Carer's Allowance Scheme: Motion [Private Members]

Deputy Marian Harkin

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that:

— according to the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) Irish Health Survey 2019, one in eight people over the age of 15 provide care, and therefore there are approximately 500,000 family carers in Ireland;

— the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey, sponsored by the Department of Health, shows that 13.3 per cent of young people between the ages of 10-17 years provide regular care, and this statistic extrapolated to the national population suggests that some 67,000 young people in the 10-17 year age group provide regular unpaid care;

— while 83 per cent of family carers are of working age and 57 per cent juggle work and care, family carers provide one billion hours of unpaid care each year, saving the State €20 billion per annum;

— there are 92,906 recipients of Carer's Allowance, including 42,823 recipients of Half-rate Carer's Allowance, providing care for 103,978 people, therefore the vast majority of family carers, including all young carers, do not receive Carer's Allowance;

— in order to be entitled to Carer's Allowance, a carer must:

— satisfy a means test;

— be at least 18 years old;

— provide full-time care, a minimum of 35 hours of care each week, to a person over the age of 16 who is not resident in an institution and who is in need of full-time care and attention for a period of at least 12 months; and

— be habitually resident in the State and not be engaged in employment, self-employment, training or education courses outside the home for more than 18.5 hours per week; and

— a significant reform of Carer's Allowance would be timely given the Government's commitment to hold a referendum on gender equality in November 2023, which will propose the replacement of Article 41.2 with wording that recognises the immense contribution and public good given by Ireland's family carers;

furthermore, notes that:

— between 2000 and 2008 there was a 250 per cent increase in income disregard for assessing Carer's Allowance, ensuring an income disregard of €580 per household per week, which was equal to the average weekly earnings of €580.76 in 2005 as per CSO figures;

— between 2008 and 2021 there was a zero per cent increase in the Carer's Allowance income disregard;

— in Budget 2022 there was a modest 13 per cent increase in income disregard, while Budget 2023 once again saw a zero per cent increase in income disregard;

— the income disregard for Carer's Allowance is now €350 per week for a single carer, while it is €750 per week per household, which seems to discriminate against single carers, giving them less than half of the household rate;

— in the Towards 2016 Ten-Year Framework Social Partnership Agreement 2006-2015, priority action 5, Caring Responsibilities, gives a commitment to expanding the income limits for the Carer's Allowance so that all those on average industrial incomes can qualify;

— according to the CSO Earnings and Labour Costs 2022, the average weekly earnings (formerly known as the Average Industrial Wage) was €900.26 in Q4 of 2022;

— the Department's review of Carer's Allowance in 2019 estimated that increasing the income disregard for Carer's Allowance from €333.50 to €450 (single rate) and from €655 to €900 (household rate) each week would cost €73 million per annum;

— given that the income disregard has already increased to €350 (single rate) and €750 (household rate) in 2022, it is estimated that increasing the income disregard to €450 (single rate) and €900 (household rate) per week would approximately cost an additional €47 million per annum, with income tax and Working Family Payment offset net expenditure would be approximately an additional €35 million per annum;

— following the increase in the income disregard announced in Budget 2022 and the subsequent financial reviews undertaken in early 2022, a significant number of carers lost their Carer's Allowance, or had it reduced due to exceeding the income disregard levels; however, the total number of carers receiving Carer's Allowance increased by 1.5 per cent between Q4 2021 and Q4 2022; and

— the Citizen's Assembly and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality both recommend increases to the Carer's Allowance income disregard;

recognises that:

— research by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice published in April 2022 shows that, even before the cost-of-living crisis, households caring for a child with a profound intellectual disability incur additional average weekly costs of €244 compared to a similarly composed household with no disability or care needs;

— the Indecon Cost of Disability in Ireland report in 2021, commissioned by the Government, estimates additional weekly costs of caring to be €175 per week at the most basic level and up to €300 in certain cases;

— the Carer's Allowance scheme undervalues care, with approximately one in eight recipients of Carer's Allowance receiving a reduced rate and thousands of full-time family carers excluded from the scheme due to their means;

— the maximum weekly rate of Carer's Allowance of €236 per week is totally inadequate to support carers whose earning capacity is significantly reduced, or often completely diminished due to their caring duties;

— family carers are expected to provide full-time care of at least 35 hours per week to those medically assessed as in need of full-time care for €236 per week, just €16 more than the basic social welfare payment, and this situation is untenable;

— the introduction of a basic income for artists, rightly set at the rate of €325 per week, illustrates the need for a significant increase in Carer's Allowance to reflect the real value of care;

— means testing based on household income rather than the individual income of the family carer forces carers to be financially reliant on their partners while they continue to care;

— 77 per cent of those who receive Carer's Allowance are women and the current structure of Carer's Allowance reinforces entrenched gender stereotypes of women as primary caregivers;

— both the Citizen's Assembly and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality recommend moving towards an individualised approach to the means testing of carer payments, with the Citizen's Assembly recommending a move towards an individualised Social Protection system while the Oireachtas Joint Committee recommends assessing applicants for Carer's Allowance on their individual means rather than those of their partner or other household members; and

— therefore the Carer's Allowance scheme, in place for thirty-three years, is inadequate, gender biased, overly restrictive and no longer fit for purpose and must be reformed to meet the needs of family carers; and

calls on the Government to:

— increase the income disregard for Carer's Allowance to €900 per week per household (or the equivalent average weekly earnings for 2023) in Budget 2024 and increase it to at least €450 per week for a single carer; and

— fundamentally reform the Carer's Allowance scheme to ensure:

— the adequacy of the Carer's Allowance payment;

— the income disregard for Carer's Allowance is further significantly increased above the average weekly earnings level, with pro-rata increases for single carers;

— an individualised approach to the means testing of carers' payments; and

— that young carers are adequately supported to have a life and opportunities outside their caring roles.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to put forward this motion, which outlines the need for significant reform of carer supports, in particular the carer's allowance scheme. The Irish health survey 2019 undertaken by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, found that one in eight people over the age of 15 provide care. This tells us that approximately 500,000 people are family carers in Ireland. We also know from the 2018 health behaviour in schools survey that approximately 67,000 young people in the ten to 17 age group provide regular unpaid care. These huge numbers tell us something very important about family carers, namely that our society, as we have constructed it, could not function without the dedication, love and commitment of family carers. It is in that context that I bring forward this motion.

Some carers care for a few hours each day, while others care 24-7. It is amazing how easily the phrase 24-7 trips off the tongue. Unless one is living with the reality of care 24 hours of every day, seven days of every week and every week of every year, one cannot begin to imagine the dedication, time management, juggling of work and care and the fact that caring takes precedence over everything. It is first, last and everything in between. The figures in the motion demonstrate that there are 92,906 recipients of the carer's allowance, which includes 42,823 recipients of the half-rate carer's allowance. They provide care for 103,978 people. Some 57% of family carers juggle work and care. All in all, family carers provide approximately 1 billion hours of unpaid care each year. If the State had to provide that care, it would cost taxpayers €20 billion every single year at the rate of €20 per hour. I did a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation to examine a few counties to see what the contribution of family carers is in those counties. In County Leitrim, family carers save the State approximately €120 million per year. In County Sligo, family carers save the State €260 million per year. In County Roscommon, family carers save the State approximately €250 million per year. In County Donegal, family carers save the State approximately €600 million per year. I did a quick check on County Monaghan, the home county of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and found that family carers there save the State approximately €240 million per year.

There are many conditions which must be satisfied in order to qualify for the carer's allowance. First, you have to be over 18, which cuts out young carers, an issue I will come back to later. You must be habitually resident in the State and not work or be in education or training outside the home for more than 18.5 hours per week. You must provide full-time care, a minimum of 35 hours of care each week, to a person in need of full-time care and attention for a period of at least 12 months. In reality, that means that carers care every day, doing everything from providing intimate and personal care to ensuring the safety of the person they care for, managing medication and hospital, doctor and other appointments, advocating for the person they care for, providing social interaction, cooking the dinner, managing time off for work, study or just a break and living with sleepless nights and long days. Then, carers have to satisfy a means test. Over the years, I have heard this described as "the mean test". It is not just about money. It is also about the fact that carers are means-tested on household income, not their own. Many carers have to rely on a partner for income support. This is a fundamental and core issue for many carers and must be part of any reform of the carer's allowance.

The Taoiseach told us there will be a referendum on gender equality in November this year, which will propose the replacement of Article 41.2 of the Constitution with wording that recognises the immense contribution and public good given by Ireland's family carers. This upcoming referendum is an opportune occasion to value the work of family carers and to reform carer's allowance so we move towards an individualised approach to the means-testing of carers' payments. Both the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality recommended this reform. The citizens' assembly recommended a move towards an "individualised social protection system", while the Oireachtas committee recommended assessing applicants for the carer's allowance on their individual means, rather than those of their partner or household income.

The model for paying the carer's allowance was put in place 33 years ago. It is gender-biased because it started when the vast majority of carers, nearly 100%, were women. It is still 77%, but it is changing. The carer's allowance was based on the model of the woman at home doing the invisible and never-ending work of caring, while the breadwinner, the man of the house, provided the income. If that income was above a certain very modest threshold, the carer - the woman - had to rely on the breadwinner to give her money to allow her to care because she would not be entitled to the carer's allowance. I guarantee that in the vast majority of cases, 100% of that money was spent on the increased cost of caring. I outlined in the motion what that is. It varies between €175 and approximately €244 extra every week. This model devalued care, and still does, to make it invisible and women's work, to regulate it and relegate it way below real work in the real world. No economist ever calculated the monetary value of care and included it in our GDP figures. It took carers' organisations to do this and thankfully that has shifted the dial. For some carers who could not access the carer's allowance because of a partner's income, financial abuse was and still is a reality. In other households in which income was shared, there was still sometimes a perception that this money was earned by the male head of the household and the carer had no financial resources in their own right. I look forward to hearing the Minister's views on the proposal from both the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and the Joint Committee on Gender Equality because we need to ensure an individualised approach to means-testing of carers' payments. I hope that in the Minister's term of office she will be the Minister to make that fundamental and crucial change.

I wish to focus on the income disregard in assessing the carer's allowance, which is the amount of money a household or individual can earn and still receive the full carer's allowance. In the motion, I detailed the time line that shows the increase in the income disregard. I will not repeat it, save to say that between 2000 and 2008, the income disregard for the carer's allowance kept pace with average weekly household earnings, as calculated by the CSO. While it was not generous, it was a good place to start. Everybody talks about the crash, the banks and the impact, but very few talk about the impact on carers. Between 2008 and 2022, there was zero increase in the income disregard for the carer's allowance. Fair dues to the Minister, in 2022 she was the first Minister in 14 years to increase that income disregard, which now stands at €350 per week for a single carer and €750 per week for total household income.

This really was a positive change, but average weekly household earnings have still far outpaced the income disregard for carers' allowance. Last year, it stood at €900 for a household. That is why I am asking the Minister that the income disregard for carer's allowance be increased in budget 2024 to €900 per week for households and €450 per week for single carers, or whatever is the equivalent of the average weekly earnings for 2023.

If she can do that, it will bring family carers back to the rate they were at in 2008. It might not seem like a big ask but, in reality, many more thousands of family carers would qualify for carer's allowance and many on the reduced rate of carer's allowance would receive the full rate. If the Minister can pursue an individualised approach to means testing of carers' payments alongside that, it would signal a profound and positive change for family carers.

I will ask her about a possible anomaly. Currently, the income disregard for single carers is €350 per week, but that is less than half the household income disregard of €750. If it was to be half of the household income disregard, it would be €375. The costs of caring, as I have shown in my motion and of which we are all aware, apply to every household equally, whether it is a single household or otherwise. Thus, I am not sure what the rationale is for having the income disregard for a single carer at less than half the income disregard for a family carer. I ask the Minister to correct me if I am wrong, but it is a discriminatory treatment of single carers.

One of the issues is the need to look at the circumstances of young carers. An estimated 67,000 young people in the ten-to-17 age group provide regular unpaid care. Just two weeks ago, we had an excellent presentation in the audiovisual, AV, room from young carers. The reality of many - not all - of their day-to-day lives is heart-wrenching. Young teenagers and children are trying to care for parents or siblings because of illness, addiction and adverse circumstances, that is, because of life. The lives they lead are lives of caring. While we accept that adults care and they can take that kind of responsibility, we do not wish to see young carers take on that responsibility. It is deeply unfair, but living and life sometime mean that young carers having caring roles. I am asking something very specific, that is, that we adequately support young carers to have a life and opportunities outside of their caring roles. I look forward to the Minister's thoughts on how we can ensure this happens.

Family carers are not angels. They are ordinary people who do their very best, out of love and common humanity, to care for those who need care. Care is often thrust upon people. They have little choice, but caring often brings out the best in people and allows ordinary people to act like angels. The role of the State is largely to support and provide the safety net in order that family carers can care. The motion I put forward, with all of my colleagues in the Independent Group, contains a balanced set of proposals on carers' allowance. The proposals could reasonably be achieved in the lifetime of this Government if it runs to full term. Our proposals are realistic and doable, in the 18- to 24-month timeframe of the lifetime of Government. If this can be achieved, it will provide a solid platform and a new paradigm for care and how we value care and carers.

Deputy Joan Collins

This motion is full of very detailed, researched information on carers and their lives in Ireland. I will highlight the most important figure in the motion, that is, the €20 billion saved by the State through the 1 billion hours of unpaid care that takes place in families throughout the country each year. Successive Governments have long relied on the unpaid work of hundreds of thousands of people to cover for the fact they have not put nearly enough funding, resources or supports into the social care system in this country. Between 2000 and 2008, the income disregard for the carer's allowance rose by 250%. Between 2008 and 2021, it rose by 0%, because the current and successive Governments led by the Government's parties knew they could rely on hundreds of thousands of people doing unpaid work with little State support, because they had to. I recognise the fact that the Minister raised the income disregard in the 2022 budget, but we have to move that forward in the coming period.

It is well past time we stopped allowing ordinary people who are often juggling work or education, or a whole host of other commitments, to plug the gaps left by failings in Government policies. Not only have carers been allowed to fill in the inadequacies of the State, they and those they care for have been allowed to continue in deteriorating situations. Four in ten disabled people live in enforced deprivation and carers are considered a group at risk of poverty. In 2022, Family Carers Ireland found that 68% of carers were experiencing financial distress. The current income disregards for the carer's allowance are totally unfit for purpose and well out of the reach of those on an average industrial income. According to the motion, a family caring for a child with a profound intellectual disability has an additional €244 in costs, compared to those without, and the additional costs of caring can be up by €175, even at the most basic level. However, full-time carers are supposed to live on a weekly allowance of €236 and a minimum of 18.5 hours of work, if they can even find the time. This is all in the face of the rising cost of living, inflation, a rise in rents and mortgage and energy price increases. The current system leaves many with little or not help at all.

The issue is not one that affects all people equally. Some 77% of people receiving the carer's allowance are women. We know there is already gender bias in our care system. The bias is reinforced under the current scheme, not only socially, but materially. This has been recognised by the citizens' assembly and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality and both have highlighted the dire need for reform. We know women are more likely to be part of other groups at risk of poverty and marginalisation. The majority of low-paid workers and lone parents are women. There are a whole host of intersecting groups in which women are overrepresented and overly exposed to problems such as poverty and deprivation.

The Government has committed to bringing forward three referendums on gender equality. Here are the reforms that would not only challenge social gender inequality, but the material basis for that inequality. Statistics from the Department of Health from 2018 suggest approximately 67,000 children between the ages of ten to 17 carry out unpaid care work in this country. In a failing system, this is a clear detriment to their education and wellbeing. How can we rely on children as young as ten to help fill a €20 billion hole of Government inaction? We need to make sure that any children suffering from the failings of the current system are provided with proper supports, assistance and opportunities. In 2019, the ESRI found that unmet care needs are especially pronounced for low-income households. Low-income and working-class people and families cannot afford private help and the current system offers them little or no help. We know a family need for a carer affects employment and education and it is worse for those already experiencing deprivation or poverty.

I thank Deputy Harkin for bringing forward the motion, which I support. The current system is clearly not fit for purpose. We need much greater reform than what the Government has been offering with regard to social welfare, gender equality and the care system. This is a practical, easy and costed step in the right direction of real and desperately-needed social welfare reform in this country.

Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Heather Humphreys)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important issue of the carer's allowance payment. I thank the Independent Group for bringing forward the motion. It is a timely discussion. I meet carers all the time through my constituency office and I see first-hand the unbelievable work they are doing. Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of improvements within the social welfare system to enhance the supports available for our carers. Would I like to go further? Of course I would. I assure Deputies that supporting carers will be a priority for me once again in this year's budget. In the Department of Social Protection and indeed across government, there are a lot of competing demands at budget time and sometimes we cannot do everything we want to do all at once. I do think that we have made some good progress in recent years. I am determined to do more and I know the Deputies opposite and indeed across the House will support me in that.

The main income supports provided by the Department include carer's allowance, carer's benefit, domiciliary care allowance and the carer's support grant. Spending on these payments in 2023 is expected to be in the region of €1.6 billion. The carer's allowance is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers in the community. In 2023, the expenditure on the carer's allowance scheme is estimated to be in excess of €1 billion. It is worth pointing out also that 50,000 people were in receipt of carer's allowance in 2010 and that figure has almost doubled today. There are currently 92,809 people receiving the payment. The means test for carer's allowance is something was raised by a number of Deputies. Indeed, I raised it myself long before I was ever in the Department. The case that always stands out to me is the person, usually a woman, who gives up her job and career to provide full-time care to a profoundly disabled child but, because her husband worked, she was not entitled to a payment. I felt that was wrong. That is why as part of budget 2022 I was the first Minister in 14 years to make changes to the carer's allowance means test. I increased the weekly earnings disregard to €750 for a couple and €350 for a single person. The idea of increasing the disregard for a couple by slightly more was to try to help the person who gives up work but was missing out because of their partner's income. In addition, in budget 2022 I also increased the amount of savings disregarded in a carer's allowance means test from €20,000 to €50,000. Those are the highest income limits of any payment in the entire social welfare system. Would I have liked to have gone further? Yes, I would. I assure Deputies that I will consider increasing those thresholds again in budget 2024. Unfortunately, I have to be honest and the reality is that no matter where I draw the line in the means test, there will always be some people who fall the other side and who do not qualify.

The motion calls for an individualised approach to the means testing of carers' payments. It is a core feature of the social welfare system that we take account of the household income. If we were to move away from that core principle in how the means test works, we would probably be looking at a payment outside of the social welfare system that would probably be more appropriate to the Department of Health. As the Minister for Social Protection, I cannot pay the carer for the work they do. If they are to be paid for their work, that will have to be considered by the Department of Health. I have asked the Oireachtas joint committees to explore that and have a discussion on it.

As Minister, I worked to make significant improvements to payments for carers as part of budget 2023. Some of the positive measures we introduced in the budget include a €12 increase in the weekly carer's allowance and carer's benefit payments, the largest increase to the weekly carer's payment for 14 or 15 years. The half-rate carer's allowance is now disregarded in the means assessment for fuel allowance. I increased domiciliary care allowance to €330 per month, the first time that payment has been increased since 2009. In addition, domiciliary care allowance is now available in respect of children with severe illness or disability who remain in hospital for up to six months after birth. The last change impacts a small group of people, but for the families concerned it means a great deal. Sometimes the big ticket items get all the attention in social protection but I have found there are small changes we can make that make a big difference and have a lasting impact.

In terms of our response to the cost of living, I have worked to ensure that carers have been prioritised. To date, we have provided a double payment for carers in October 2022, a special €500 payment for people receiving the carer's support grant paid in November 2022, and the Christmas bonus double payment. A further €200 payment for carers will be paid in April. I should also add that in my very first budget in the Department, I increased the carer's support grant to €1,850, the highest ever level, and that payment will be made to all carers in June.

I acknowledge the important role that family carers play in society and I have committed to provide a pension for carers. I announced a series of landmark reforms to the State pension system in September. From a personal point of view, one of the most important reforms agreed by Government is enhanced State pension provision for people who have been caring for more than 20 years. We will do this by attributing paid contributions to long-term carers to cover gaps in their social insurance contribution record and by establishing a register of family carers for this purpose. My officials are currently working to implement these reforms, including the drafting of legislation and the development of administrative and IT systems so that we can have the pension for carers in place by January 2024.

I again thank the Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. I genuinely have tried to do my very best to help our carers since I came into the Department two and a half years ago. In fairness. we have made progress. I know the Deputies opposite also raised the issue of the challenges faced by young carers. I agree that they should be supported to have a life outside of their caring role. The national carers' strategy commits to supporting children and young people with caring responsibilities. My Department has supported projects to help young carers through the Dormant Accounts Fund.

In my first budget I increased the carer's support grant to its highest ever level. In my second budget I was the first Minister in 14 years to make changes and improvements to the means test. In this year's budget, we had the largest increase to the weekly carer's payment for approximately 15 years. I have provided combined lump sum payments of more than €1,000 to support carers with the cost of living. As I have outlined, the priority for me now is to make sure our long-term carers have access to a pension. We have to do more and I do accept that. We are not opposing this motion. I look forward to hearing Deputies' contributions. I will take on board the points raised and, as I said earlier, I assure Deputies that supporting our carers will be a priority for me in budget 2024.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

I am sharing time with Deputy Fitzmaurice. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and I welcome the Minister's contribution. I thank Deputy Harkin and the office for putting in all of the work on this. I proudly signed the motion. It is apt that we are discussing it in a year when we are looking at a referendum on caring in the home and getting rid of the gender-based wording in the Constitution.

This is a very practical motion and I am glad the Government is not opposing it. I am not sure whether the Government is going to adopt it.

I believe in the Minister's bona fides, however. I think she is open to looking at what is in this motion. Deputy Harkin has put a focus on what we have all talked about for a long time over the years. At every single election, there is always a presentation regarding carers and what is happening in the Government's approach to carers, which I will come back to in a minute.

This very practical motion is an indictment of our economic system. We talk about a thriving economy, and we hear economists regularly talking about the various indices that tell us we are a wealthy country and how well we are doing. However, absolutely no value is ever put on carers. It is the hidden work and, of course, it is predominantly female, which goes a long way to explaining how this has happened. That is not taking from the many men and boys who are caring at home. I am talking about the overall approach from various Governments. Of course, Social Justice Ireland, the Vincentian group and others have done tremendous work on the ground, and every single year, in every single budget, educate us as to what policy changes are necessary. They point out that the work of Ireland's carers receives minimal recognition despite the essential role carers play in society. We do not have the benefit of the analysis of the recent 2022 census, so we are looking at the census figures from 2016. I am not going to set them out again. They have been clearly set out in Deputy Harkin's report.

What she is seeking here is a change with regard to having an individualised approach. She is talking about lifting the income threshold. I realise that the Minister made changes and I appreciate those changes. However, Deputy Harkin sets out how for a long period prior to that between 2008 and 2021, there was a 0% increase. It is a bit like public housing in a sense. When we boast about all the houses we are building now, we fail to put it into context. There was no increase for that significant period.

The points have been made by the groups on the ground. They talk about the additions in every budget when there is an increase in the carer's allowance and one-off payments. They are all very welcome, but the fundamental change that is required, which means a change in policy, has not ever happened. The Minister's challenge, with our support, is to fundamentally change policy so that we never again have reports coming from economists, which are quoted by various Governments, telling us that the country is thriving when it is thriving on the back of unpaid work. That is really the reality here.

The figures are absolutely shocking. A percentage of underage children are providing care. There are only 92,906 recipients of carer’s allowance, and that includes the 42,000-plus getting a half payment. What do these figures mean? That is very welcome payment to those people. However, it excludes the vast majority of households and families who are providing care without which the economy could not function. It simply could not function, nor could our hospitals, and they are in serious trouble as it is. I would love to see a different type of economic analysis when it comes to this subject and, indeed, when it comes to domestic violence and mental health. The failure to provide services ends up costing the State much more. The figure of €2.2 billion is usually cited with regard to domestic violence. There is a failure to deal with it in terms of lost productivity, and similarly with mental health. Notwithstanding all the wonderful reports, such as A Vision for Change and Sharing the Vision and all this, the implementation is completely faulty and ends up costing the economy. That is where women, and good men, come in. We give a completely different perspective. We might put that then in male terms, if I can use that word, if we speak in terms of the economy. We change the way that we analyse things. That simply has not happened.

The Minister for Social Protection is in the position whereby in every budget, she increases a little bit after listening to people on the ground. She gives another little bit without a fundamental change. I do not know whether she agrees with that analysis. That is what we need, however. She pointed out that the Department of Health may well be the appropriate Department. Her point that the Department of Health may well be the appropriate Ministry is a fair one to make in terms of what is an appropriate payment for carers in our society so that our economy can thrive on a fair basis.

Along with home carers and the carer's allowance, we have a significant parallel crisis in home care and home care packages. People are at breaking point, and we as Teachtaí Dála put pressure on the system and say that we give millions of hours per year. Then, I try to analyse that where I live in the Claddagh in Galway city and in Connemara. I see people struggling on a regular basis because there are no people available for home care work because we have undervalued and minimised carers and we have genderised it, if I can use that word. We have never made it an attractive position in terms of home care packages. Not alone that but we have privatised the home care system and rely on private companies. They seem to be able to get staff, and why? I am making the point that all this is a package at which we need to look. Over the years, we have had a neoliberal ideology with regard to care so that we put a price on everything and value nothing. I see the Minister shaking her head. I am acknowledging the good work she has done. I am acknowledging what she pointed out in her contribution. However, she is operating within a system where figures can move up or down a little bit depending on the economy. While the economy is defined in very narrow limits, it cannot function without the unpaid work that is been done. The carers are suffering. We know from all the indices and reports that they themselves are suffering from physical disabilities, depression and various psychological symptoms, and I am not a bit surprised. We also note that the more affluent families are able to do less caring because they have other ways of getting carers in whereas those people with less income are providing extraordinary numbers of hours per week.

Deputy Harkin said we throw out very easily the phrase 24-7, and she is absolutely right; 24-7 care is not possible for any human being. The motion could be the beginning of a conversation and debate that achieves results and puts a proper value on care. We must consider the amount of money it is saving the economy and the pressure it takes off hospitals. If today is a start with an end result, and the Government is not opposing this motion, I very much welcome it. I might just leave my cynicism aside for today and, hopefully, there will be a change.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Verona Murphy)

I thank Deputy Connolly. The next slot will be taken by Sinn Féin. Deputy Kerrane has five minutes.

Deputy Claire Kerrane

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. I commend Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group on bringing forward this really important motion. As the Minister will know, the need to review carer's allowance is an issue I have raised many times. From listening to the discussion this morning, however, the issue is clearly much broader than that.

There is a clear need to put a plan in place with regard to carer's allowance and those income supports for family carers going forward. It is very clear that we cannot continue with the situation where year on year at budget time, there is a circus over whether there will be a fiver increase or no fiver or what will be in it. We need to give family carers certainty regarding their income supports. That is so important.

Again, we know the national carer's strategy is under the Department of Health but, of course, there is a role for the Department of Social Protection as well. That report remains unpublished. The previous one was published 11 years ago. We need to see movement. We need to see commitments in that with ring-fenced funding and we need to ensure they are implemented.

In fairness to family carers, when that report was published back in 2012 there was a financial crisis. Carers accepted that. The report was not implemented but we need to ensure that does not happen again. We need to see the commitment, words and tributes to family carers actually brought through in action.

The Minister spoke about the increase in the earnings disregards but one increase does not make up for the 13 years when there was no increase at all. One year in which there is one change does not make up for that. We have an awfully long way to go in improving the earnings disregard to ensure more family carers who are providing full-time care and attention get income support.

As always in these debates, it will be said that carers enjoy the most generous means test or the highest income limits of any payment. That is because they are the only cohort of people receiving a payment from the Department of Social Protection who are required to provide a full-time role and full-time care and attention while also being limited regarding what they can do outside the home, be that study or work. Carers are the only cohort that has those obligations placed on them and so they are unique in the Department of Social Protection system.

Reference was made to the presentation by young carers in the committee a couple of weeks ago. They came in to share their experiences of being a young carer. It was a very informative presentation for everyone who was present. What they told us really mattered. They spoke about the limits the care they provide places on their lives and what they can do. They spoke of worrying about the financial cost of continuing in education and of struggling to find the time to study and get their homework done. The thread running through most of the experiences of the young carers was the lack of understanding and recognition for the care they provide as young carers and the lack of understanding in places like the school setting. There is definitely a wider role here for the Department of Education in this.

Last year, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection examined the carer's allowance, specifically means testing. It was a very good meeting at which we heard directly from three family carers. In discussing this issue today, it is important that we hear the words spoken by those carers. We heard from a carer in his 60s. He told us that in 2003 his wife gave up work to mind their twins and other children full time. The hospital she worked in lost a brilliant accident and emergency nurse. She gave up a career she loved and forfeited her salary and future pension entitlements. In 2013, he had to retire early from his job as an assistant director of mental health nursing because the girls were at the magic age of 18. He loved his job but he loved his girls more. Being 18 meant the end of school and there were no adult day services available. He said that lots of carers do not receive any income support. He added:

These carers continue caring and looking after their loved ones. In many or most cases, if they stop caring for their loved ones, there is no one else to step in to do it ... All we ask is to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect. We do not want to face a future of poverty and frugality. Our futures are bleak enough as it is, getting older and frailer and still minding our adult children when we are getting to a stage when we ourselves are beginning to need help.

These are the family carers who need our support. They need it in income support and in the long-promised State pension. It is clear from this discussion that we have an awful lot more to do, not just to speak but to act in supporting our family carers throughout the State.

Deputy Pauline Tully

I very much support the sentiment expressed in the Independent Group's motion and I thank its members for bringing it forward. I welcome the opportunity afforded by this motion to address the House on the need for a review and reform of the carer's allowance scheme. Family carers have long been held up as the crucial pillar of parent support in Ireland. Various departmental strategies and documents refer to the important role that family carers play in our society, viewing them as the backbone of care provision in Ireland. Time and again, however, family carers have not received the care and support they need and deserve.

The cross-party interest group on family carers along with Family Carers Ireland recently hosted a group of young carers and young adult carers in Leinster House. We heard from these young carers about how they provide regular and ongoing care and emotional support to a family member while trying to balance school, college or work, and sometimes both. While many family carers reflected how they find caring for a loved one extremely rewarding, and while their immense contribution is estimated to save the State approximately €20 billion per annum, recent research by Family Carers Ireland found that family carers are lonelier, more isolated and in poorer health than the average person in Ireland.

The Minister stated that the main income supports provided by her Department are expected to be in the region of €1.6 billion but when we compare that with the €20 billion that family carers save the State every year, it is necessary and possible to spend much more supporting family carers. The research findings reflect the lack of support given to family carers. The carer's allowance scheme is inadequate. It is gender biased, restrictive and undervalues care. It is no longer fit for purpose. It was first introduced in 1990, which is 32 years ago. It was an income support for people living with and caring for a relevant pensioner. It was not designed to meet the very different circumstances of lifetime carers who care for prolonged periods and need access to an integrated income support system that encourages rather than restricts their participation in work and education.

The recent introduction of a basic income for artists shows that significant change in how we recognise and value certain sectors of our society is possible. Research published in April last year shows that even before the cost-of-living crisis, households caring for a child with a profound intellectual disability incur additional average weekly costs of €244 compared with a similarly composed household with no disability or care needs. Despite this, only households with a total gross income of less than €39,000 qualify for full carer's allowance. Income disregards bear no resemblance to the actual disposable income of a caring household because the assessment is applied to gross rather than net income and does not consider dependent children, college fees, fair deal contributions, medical costs and so on. It is does not reflect the reality faced by families who are struggling to make ends meet.

Means testing based on the household income rather than the individual income of the family carer forces carers, the majority of whom - 77% - are women, to be financially reliant on their partners. In many cases where carers are receiving payments these fall way below the established minimum essential standard of living, MESL. The income inadequacy imposed by existing social welfare payments must be addressed. Sinn Féin has called for rates of carer's allowance and carer's benefit to be increased by €17.50 in 2023 as part of a vision to incrementally bring social welfare rates in line with the MESL over time. We have repeatedly called for the means testing of carer's allowance to be reviewed and we have sought a commitment from the Minister to do so. We have consistently called for an increase in the income threshold in the means test for carer's allowance. This would result in higher payments for current recipients on reduced payments and would also mean that more carers would qualify for the allowance.

Deputy Martin Browne

I thank Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. As a result of the policies of this Government and the previous Government, we are living in an age where carers can be classified as underpaid or very badly paid. Despite the fact that carers take the pressure off the hospital system to the tune of €20 billion per year, the best they can expect from this Government is a fight to get the carer's allowance in the first place. If they are successful, they can expect to live hand to mouth, while providing a vital service for the person they care for. To get the carer's allowance, the hoops that people must go through are onerous and in no way recognise the contribution to the State and the person they care for. Time and again I have people contacting me, as do the Minister and every other Deputy, when their application for carer's allowance has been refused due to the situation they find themselves in. I will give one example. One woman's son has numerous health issues. He has COPD, diabetes, heart problems, associated amputations and so on. His mother was refused carer's allowance as his needs were considered to be insufficient. If that does not sound like a top priority for the Minister, as she said earlier, or the Government and if this young man's needs are not considered to be significant, then we seriously need to question the criteria by which applications are measured.

Sinn Féin has repeatedly called for the means test on the carer's allowance and the rules around working hours to be reviewed. We sought a commitment from the Minister to do this and I call on her again to carry this out. If the carer I refer to was to be successful in her appeal under the current system, what would she get? She would more than likely be expected to live with an income that would fall below the minimum essential standard of living. This is how she is valued by this Government and the State.

In addition to the review of the means test, Sinn Féin would allow for rates of carer's allowance and carer's benefit to be increased, with the ultimate aim to bring social welfare rates in line with the minimum essential standard of living over time. We recommend relaxing the carer's allowance means test by way of the income disregard thresholds to increase eligibility for payments.

We have also proposed that eligibility for carer's benefit be extended to the self-employed. If the Government continues to ignore our calls, it will have to answer for that. How does the Government expect carers, who must battle for minimal payments, to continue what they do while also being denied readily available respite and adequate home care hours? This is common, as in the case of one mother in my constituency whose son has special needs, including an uncommon disease involving abdominal deficiency alongside AHD. She has had to cancel her own hospital appointments because she cannot get anyone to look after her son. I have inquired about respite services on her behalf. She has been told to complete and submit a form for assessment. She will have to deal with the waiting list for an actual assessment, which the HSE described as "significant", before she even gets on the waiting list for respite. She has been on the waiting list for assessment for some time and will have to wait further for respite. That is a complete disaster.

The realities on the ground have been laid out for the Minister today. While I understand that she has encountered these issues in the course of her work as well, it is past time for her to act. The Government is not opposing the motion and we welcome that. The Minister now has a chance to show how serious she is about carers by implementing the motion and making carers feel they are appreciated by this Government.

Deputy Matt Carthy

I commend the Independent Group for bringing this important motion to the House in support of our family carers. I commend in particular Deputy Marian Harkin for her advocacy and championing of family carers, not only in this House but also in the European Parliament, which I directly witnessed, and her ongoing efforts in that regard. Those efforts and the efforts of all of us are important because our family carers provide a crucially important service. The fact is undisputed, in my view, that they have been under-appreciated by successive governments. The service provided by carers is invaluable. In many cases it is highly skilled, often exhausting work caring for loved one. Part of the exhaustion, of course, is mental exhaustion arising from promised reforms that have never actually been delivered or that are always just one more review away.

The first thing that is required is a recognition that family carers give a lifetime of care to loved ones and in doing so, they save us all. They save the taxpayer and the Exchequer billions of euro every year. Some of the most frustrating cases any Deputy can be involved are those involving carers trying to secure the carer's allowance for the first time, having to jump through the myriad of hoops that are required in order to satisfy mean tests and deal with the unfairness that is often there.

I commend the Sinn Féin spokesperson in this area, Deputy Clare Kerrane, for publishing A Charter for Family Carers in which we outline clearly what we believe can be done in the immediate term. Of course, some things will take time but measures such as ensuring that carers are entitled to pensions are taking too much time. There are things that can be done very quickly, including increasing the carer's allowance and carer's benefit over successive budgets until they reach the minimum essential standard of living, extending carer's benefit eligibility to the self-employed and increasing the annual carer support grant to €2,000 per year. These are measures that can be taken very quickly and do not require any additional reviews. They can be done within the ordinary budget cycle.

It is unfortunate that Members have to bring motions before the Dáil on this because this is something that we should be unanimous on. I know the Minister has worked closely with family carers in the constituency that we both share and nobody is doubting her bona fides. Carers are one group of individuals who Members from across the political spectrum value and recognise for their work. However, that value and recognition will come down to brass tacks at the end of the day, in terms of the payments that carers receive for the invaluable service they provide, their pension entitlement so that they can have security into the future, and the overall recognition and support structures that must be in place to allow them to continue doing what they are doing, better than anybody else can, which is caring for their loved ones in their own homes. In doing so, they are providing a great social as well as economic service to this State.

Deputy Pa Daly

I also commend Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group for tabling this motion. It is very comprehensive and covers a lot of ground.

Over the past two or three weeks in particular, I have had to deal with a number of cases where family members' loved ones who are in community hospitals or the general hospital are coming home and require care. In some cases, they have a certain amount of care already but they need an extra person, an extra carer, to help out where, for example, there might be a hoist in use and two people are needed to operate it. I pay tribute to and thank the home care teams in Kerry for their assistance, particularly those in the Tralee and Listowel offices who deal with our requests in a very straightforward and speedy manner.

In Kerry there is a growing crisis within the sector. There is much concern at the growing waiting list for home care assistance in the CHO 4 area, which includes Kerry. Sobering figures were published as part of the Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, new quarterly report known as the HCCI Home Care Data Series. According to that report, 404 people in Kerry were waiting for home care support at the end of 2022, up 94% on the figures for the same period in 2021. This translates into families under pressure and stress, having to put their lives on hold and into those being cared for having to ask friends, neighbours or other loved ones to be there for them when they are getting up in the morning, to help the care assistant. More help is needed. The figures for the rest of the CHO 4 area show that Kerry has some of the worst wait times of any region in the State.

There is some positive news as waiting lists for approved funding have reduced. However, funding is only one part of the picture and many areas have funds in place but people are either not able to get a carer or not able to get more hours when they require them. As my colleague Deputy Carthy said, people have to negotiate all of the stepping stones involved with means tests and making an application for carer's allowance. These additional elements of bureaucracy are difficult for them to deal with in an already stressful situation. Home care is vital to preserve the independence and dignity of the elderly. Without it, many can end up in nursing home settings when they could be cared for where they want to be, which is at home. Home care also has a role to play in ensuring that our hospitals, about which we have heard so much recently, are not overcrowded.

The solutions are relatively simple and they must be tackled. Training, recruitment and retention must be improved and a pay agreement within the sector must be struck. Over the last few years, a lot of home care assistant provision was outsourced. A recruitment campaign has started but more effort needs to be put into directly employing home care assistants in the future and paying them properly for the great work they do in the community. A commission on care must be established and proper workforce planning undertaken. Without these changes, the waiting lists are going to grow and the State is going to end up picking up the tab, one way or another. These measures must be put in place to provide dignity and a decent quality of life for the people who have given so much to families and the State over the years.

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I welcome this timely motion and signal the Labour Party's absolute support for it. It is widely acknowledged that the budgetary measures that were put in place in the most recent budget signalled a real intention by the Minister and the Government to pour money and resources into increasing the line payments. We acknowledge the €500 cost-of-living payment for people who were receiving the carer's support grant which was paid in November. We also acknowledge that carers received a Christmas double bonus payment in December and that there was a €12 increase in the maximum rate of carer's allowance and carer's benefit which took effect from January 2023. There was a €2 increase for a qualified child, bringing the rates to €50 for those aged over 12 and €42 for those aged under 12. The half-rate carer's allowance is now disregarded in the means test for fuel allowance, as of January 2023. The domiciliary care allowance increased by €20.50 to €330 per month from January 2023 and the allowance is now available in respect of children with severe illnesses or disabilities who remain in hospital for up to six months after birth.

Let us be honest and acknowledge this. I respectfully suggest to the Minister that many of those increases will have been more than wiped out by the present cost-of-living increases and the inflationary effect. Some of those increases are not keeping up with the rate of inflation and I respectfully suggest they be reviewed.

This is my third time raising this matter. While it is a very specific case, it is typical of many cases throughout the country. If somebody is in receipt of carer's allowance or the half-rate carer's payment and his or her spouse or partner is given the opportunity to avail of overtime - the Minister is nodding in assent because she will have heard me speak about this before - it will put the family's income over the threshold. I am speaking specifically on behalf of a family I am advocating for, but I know they are reflective of hundreds of other families throughout the country. In this instance, a mother is caring for a son who has an intellectual disability and is going into adulthood. All the supports she received are now gone because her spouse or partner was able to avail of overtime. She lost all the supports she was receiving by dint of the increase in income of her spouse. It is that category of persons I am speaking about today.

The Minister has said she is committed to carrying out a broad review of means testing this year, which will include means-test provisions for carer's allowance. Could scenarios like that be looked at, especially in cases of families where a son or a daughter has an intellectual disability, so that some provision or exception could be made for people in that category? That should not take away from the universality of the payments and exceptions should not be unnecessarily created. However, there should be some recognition of the fact that, in this instance, the woman, who is a spouse and a mother, could have had a career in her own right but made a choice to remain at home to care for her son. It may be a son or daughter and it affects any number of families throughout the country. I speak specifically about that category of people today. The motion before the House quite rightly looks for an increase in the income disregard. I know that if there were to be an increase in the income disregard, that family would sneak under the chicken wire, as it were, and eligibility for the supports would apply to the primary carer in this instance. So much is lost when the income of a household increases. So much is lost that is accrued to the carer. That is who we are talking about here.

I appreciate the Minister will say that in 2023, €1.6 billion will be spent on carer's allowance, carer's benefit, domiciliary care allowance and the carer's support grant. We fully acknowledge that. The fiscal package in the most recent budget was in the order of €11 billion, however. I am putting my hand up to make a case for having a specific category of carer included in the review the Minister has said she will carry out. Cases like that, particularly where there is an intellectual disability involved, should be looked at. The cost-of-living increases can be measured and we know what the inflationary effect is. It is arguable, therefore, that there will be scope for further increases within that envelope in the next budget. I say this because politically the next budget will arguably be a give-away budget. The Minister questioned the sustainability of some of the giveaways and once-off payments that were made, and whether it would have been a better approach to bake in more sustainable, long-term payments for people such as carers who give so much to society. We do not need to rehearse how valuable carers are to society. We know that inherently. We meet them day in, day out.

I also echo the views expressed on the lack of availability of home care packages or where people are being cared for in the home. People will argue that there is a recruitment crisis but I am now seeing the complete privatisation of that service, whereas once upon a time, the State provided it through the HSE. I am old enough to remember the Southern Health Board, SHB, which had an excellent service for those caring for people in the home. We should not throw the baby out with the bath water on that point. We need to revisit that in terms of the recruitment crisis around caring for people within their homes. The motion addresses that.

I make one final call for the income disregard for carer's allowance to be reviewed because that would assist many families. Is there scope in the budgetary process to do that coming into the autumn, when the Minister and her colleagues will be speaking about it with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Programme Delivery and Reform? Given the context in which the Minister has committed to carrying out a broader review of the means testing, it would be so meaningful for so many people if that could be looked at.

Deputy Gary Gannon

I welcome this motion and commend Deputy Harkin for tabling it. It recognises carers’ invaluable contribution to society and highlights their mistreatment by the State, something I hope we can all come together in this Chamber to rectify. I echo the call made in the motion for an increase in the income disregard for the carer's allowance to €900 per week per household, or the equivalent average weekly earnings for 2023, in budget 2024, while increasing it to at least €450 per week for a single carer.

Fundamental reform of the carer's allowance scheme is essential because the status quo is completely inadequate, especially for young carers, many of whom are currently inhibited in their lives and in pursuing opportunities outside their caring roles. I agree with the sentiments of Family Carers Ireland which succinctly presents the policy changes we must see off the back of these discussions. Those changes include the establishment of a cross-departmental working group on young carers and the identification of the Department with lead responsibility for young carers, as well as an increase in awareness and visibility of young carers and young adult carers who, unfortunately, are often excluded from narratives they have every right to be a part of. We must support young carers to make the transition to further education, higher education and apprenticeship, to afford them the same opportunities that may befall others more easily. We must look beyond the early years and ensure a smooth transition for those who then seek other forms of employment. It is essential that young carers have access to appropriate mental health resources because the job can be incredibly taxing, as we hear in many testimonies. Those who are lifting these incredibly heavy loads must be adequately remunerated, a demand that lies at the heart of this motion. Access to regular breaks and respite is also critical to the health and well-being of those working in this area. The inclusion of young carers in the refreshed national carers strategy is paramount and I hope to see this materialise in the coming months.

The Government has promised to sort out legislation on the carers’ pension scheme, a promise that is too little, too late. Nobody should have to suffer this injustice any longer, yet carers are still peering over this cliff edge without any reassurances. It is hard to think of a greater injustice than someone spending decades caring for severely ill or profoundly disabled family members, only to face into a retirement of financial insecurity. Yet, this is the reality faced by many long-term caregivers who, thanks to anomalies in our system, have no immediate entitlement to a pension from the State when they retire. No group is more deserving of the admiration and support of our society than people who spend years, and sometimes decades, in these caring roles.

Aside from the social value they provide, they save the economy billions of euro annually - €20 billion by some estimates. However, while our carers are making an incalculable social and economic contribution to society, the Government has totally failed to recognise their selfless efforts. How the system decides who is entitled to a pension means that some of the most deserving people in society are left facing financial uncertainty and insecurity in their old age. This is usually a result of gaps in their PRSI history or quirks in the means test that leave carers without any pension entitlement.

The Government has committed to finding a solution to the issue but has yet to bring one to fruition. As an example, unless someone has paid at least 520 PRSI contributions over his or her working life, he or she has no automatic entitlement to a State pension. That amounts to ten years in employment, something that most people would not consider an impediment.

This is something that is near impossible to achieve for people who leave the workforce for good in their 20s to look after someone with a disability in the family, for example. No right thinking person believes such people should be excluded from the system because they did not get to work for ten years before caring duties took over their lives and was a valuable form of work. Carers are usually entitled to have PRSI contributions credited to them in recognition of their care work for a period where they are not in employment and therefore not paying PRSI, but these credited contributions max out at 20 years. This limit seems bizarre; some people spend twice that long caring and this should be acknowledged. I would go further and say that treating paid and credited contributions differently tells carers that society does not value their work as much as it values paid employment.

Public policy needs to reflect more modern thinking about what counts as valuable work. The worst thing is that these credited contributions are of no use to carers who do not have the minimum of ten years in the workforce done. The 20-year limit on credited PRSI contributions for caring work should be removed, as should this ten-year minimum, and credited contributions for carers should be the same as actual paid contributions. The best way this Government could make a statement of its commitment to carers is by designing a dedicated long-term carer's pension scheme. This should target people who have delivered full-time care for more than 20 years, regardless of their PRSI history and should pay a pension equal to the maximum contributory pension. In addition, it should not be means test.

Family Carers Ireland hears from many carers every year, mostly women, who have no individual entitlement to a pension from the State. If they are lucky, they will qualify for something through a spouse but if they are married to a civil servant who was hired under the old pension regime, or to a farmer who has land, they are usually left with nothing. It is scandalous that many carers are left with no financial independence after spending their whole lives doing the difficult work that is caregiving. I know of no economic or social argument that could deny people in this situation financial security into their old age. Whatever the cost of paying long-term carers a pension, it could never equal the contribution they have made to society. We owe them that much.

Deputy Bríd Smith

I thank Deputy Harkin and her group for putting forward this important motion. I hope that given that we have set up an all-party committee on the role of carers, with a focus on young carers, this year and beyond we will begin to change the attitude and climate in this country towards the important role of caring for people in the family and at home. The statistics are startling and I want to say that the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach made a comment at a recent presentation in the audiovisual room by young people on the level of caring that they do. She was genuinely moved to tears when hearing the live testimony of the young people on how their lives are affected and what sort of day-to-day routine they carry out by caring for people. As the motion states: "some 67,000 young people in the 10-17 year age group provide regular unpaid care". I asked them afterwards if they were aware of the number of young people who provide care to parents, guardians or loved ones because of addiction. I have worked with groups in my community that provide support for people living with addiction and I have seen young people who pick up the pieces for their siblings, parents and loved ones because addiction has rendered them incapable of doing so. They said they have to research that. That matter is not taken into account in those figures so the figures would soar if it was.

The scandal is that the amount of money the State saves by using the carer's allowance scheme is so incredibly high, an estimated €20 billion per year. It cannot really be measured just in terms of money, but it is an incredibly high figure and yet we only have approximately 135,000 people on carer's allowance. A lot of the reason for that is the means testing and the limitations of that. The way the means test is done limits the ability of carers to access the carer's allowance. The carer's allowance is a wonderful idea and it helps people to survive through what are very tough years. I acted as a carer for my mother for about six years and I worked for about ten hours per week as well during that time. Those ten hours were leisure hours really because I was getting away from the stress and strain of constantly being on call and being aware and alert to somebody else's need rather than being focused on something I could give value to. I say that because it is no surprise at all that the vast majority of carers are women and girls. That stems from a society that has disrespected women and put them in a category of providing a specific role. It is a misogynist and sexist view of women and girls but it has penetrated very deeply into our system and that is reflected when you look at the statistics on carers, who does it, how much they get paid and how they are disregarded etc.

It is important in debating this motion that we look at things like the income disregard, which has to increase. It has been kept at a capped level for many years since the banking collapse and it did not begin to recover until 2021. We have to address that. It is not surprising that carers are so badly paid because that puts women and girls into the category of low pay, which is the reality when you look beneath the statistics of everything that happens in this country.

One does not just care for the person one lives with out of a sense of having to clean up after them, look after them or give them their medication. It stems from love, affection and genuine loyalty. That is something that we think probably should not be rewarded in pounds, shillings and pence but when you are giving up your time, life and energy to make sure that person stays comfortable, safe and looked after, without being in an institution, that is a really important function. It is great that we are so good at that in this country but we need to be good at recognising the value of it and rewarding it properly. On the pension scheme, the points that have been made by others are really relevant. We cannot allow people to go into their retirement years and be forgotten about, just because they provided a role that was undervalued in the first place by the State.

There is an interesting way of looking at how we come out of the climate change catastrophe we are facing. There is an argument for us to look at the way we produce goods and at the amount of goods we produce and consume. If we were to have a democratically planned society that said we do not need to produce that much stuff and that we need to cut back on production it could help to reduce our emissions and the burning of greenhouse gasses. The alternative to that is interesting and the slogan for it is for a society of care and repair. It basically means that we shift our focus in society from profit and production towards looking at the human aspects of how we treat society and conduct ourselves. The carers and the role they play fall into a model for the sort of care and repair society we need. Therefore, we should value them financially, but wholly and statistically as well, and see them and their future and present as being really important for this State. The Government needs to carry out the functions that are in the motion and People Before Profit will be supporting it.

Deputy Seán Canney

I compliment Deputy Harkin for introducing this very important Private Members' motion. It is important that we discuss carers and the role they play in society. The level of service they give is often free of charge and is often done as a vocation rather than anything else. They do not seek a lot and we should respect the fact that they believe that this is something you do out of duty. It is important that we also ensure they can be rewarded or supported in financial terms to do that. One of the things we should change is the number of hours that somebody can work outside of the home to bring it up to 19.5 hours so that people who are on a community employment or rural social scheme can qualify for carer's allowance. At the moment it is 18 hours. It is a small change but it would make a huge difference to a lot of people who could care as well as being involved in the likes of the community employment, rural social or Tús schemes.

There is an anomaly here. In order to qualify for carer's benefit, people have to be working 18 hours a week outside the home. People who are working less than 18 hours may be on a higher income and could be getting more money and will not qualify for the carer's benefit because they are not working the 18 hours. That should be looked at to make sure that anomaly does not continue.

Deputy Harkin also raised the income disregard for a single person. It is out of sync with that of a couple. The income threshold should be €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple in order to give them a chance to earn some money and at the same time provide this valuable service. A lot of the service is provided at weekends when there is nobody else around. It is also provided at night and whatever else. It is important that we look at that. Without doubt, Family Carers Ireland is a good representative body for people who are caring. It is important that we as politicians listen to what carers are saying and what they need.

A number of young people were in the Dáil a couple of weeks ago. We should respect that there are a lot of young people caring within the family. They are the silent people who are doing it out of love for a family member. We need to make sure that is recognised and they are supported.

As a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, it is important that I say that people with disabilities have a higher cost of living. This is nothing to do with the recent cost-of-living increases. The Indecon report stated that anybody with a disability has €12,000 of additional cost-of-living expenses per year in normal times. While we brought in some one-off payments last year, I ask that the Minister and the Department consider addressing that particular anomaly because people with disabilities need to be able to live independently and do the things they are entitled to do. I would not call them disabilities; I would say different abilities. They need that support and it is important that we do that and bring in a scheme to give them the level of support they need for the extra cost of their disability.

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick

Family Carers Ireland, in its biannual state of caring report, reported that 1,484 carers were caring for a total of 1,984 people across a range of caring situations, including parents caring for a child with an illness or disability, those caring for an adult, carers of older people and those caring for multiple people. Carers do a fantastic job and, as I have often stated in this House, they save the State a fortune. We must do more to provide additional flexibility around the means threshold to ensure parents and carers can be supported in caring for their child.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all carers in Ireland for the vital and valuable contribution they make in society and in all our local communities. Their commitment and work in supporting those who need help and support is hugely important and is greatly appreciated. I commend all carers but commendations do not pay the bills and they do not replace monetary recognition for the work carers do and the life put on hold.

As we know, at present the carer's allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that they require that level of care. The means assessment allows for a weekly income disregard of €350 for a single person and €750 for a couple. However, for single mothers, any maintenance payments are included in the gross weekly income. If someone is under 66 and caring for one person, the maximum weekly rate is €236, with an increase of €42 at the full rate or €21 at the half rate for a child dependant. If a person is in receipt of another social welfare payment in their own right, other than unemployment payments or supplementary welfare allowance, or is being claimed as a qualified adult on their spouse or partner's payment, they are only eligible to a half-rate carer's allowance. At the half rate, some carers' allowances equate to 78 cent per hour. That is a slap in the face.

Carers often have to take out loans to cover the cost of wheelchairs and rising energy or heating costs, which can be more than most due to illness. The means test often does not take into consideration the extra waste disposal charges due to medical waste, or the fact that carers have to pay charges for having prescription drug sheets written up every six months. Some have to travel regularly for appointments and incur the cost of parking, fuel, childcare etc. That is on 78 cent an hour. None of these things matter to the means test but they matter greatly to the carers who are struggling to pay for them.

Taking these facts into consideration, I am calling for a review of the carer's allowance, including the abolition of the means test and an increase in the amount paid to reflect that for many, this is a full-time, 24-7 job. While I acknowledge the work of the Minister in implementing the annual grant increase of €1,850 in her first budget as Minister for Social Protection, I would highlight that this is not means tested, and rightly so. It is available to all carers providing full-time care to an older person or a person with a disability, regardless of their means or social insurance contributions. On top of this, we must also invest the resources needed to adequately address the gross inadequacy of children’s disability services.

Let us acknowledge that being a carer is saving the State a fortune - up to €1,500 per week for residential care. I acknowledge carers’ immense contribution. It is a job from which family carers get no statutory rights to holiday or sick pay, mandated breaks or any of the other rights and entitlements the rest of us enjoy. It is a full-time occupation. Many carers leave their jobs because of the work they have at home looking after children with complex needs. These carers may not be able to access carer's allowance due to the means test threshold.

As we navigate the current cost-of-living crisis and recognise the hardship many families are experiencing in looking after their loved ones, now is the time to reassess the value we place on care and to review how family carers are recognised and supported financially by the State. We need to support the family carers who support our society. Every mother or father who cares for a special needs child from birth should be paid the carer’s allowance in full, no questions asked. It is hard enough for parents in general, never mind parents who are full-time carers.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae

First, I thank the excellent carers who provide such an invaluable service in County Kerry, which I represent. Carers play a vital role in society by providing support and care for those who are unable to care for themselves. Carers provide invaluable emotional support for those in their care. This includes offering companionship, listening to concerns and providing comfort during difficult times. Carers also play an important role in managing the physical health of those in their care. They provide practical support that can help individuals to maintain their independence and play an important role in advocating for the rights and needs of those in their care.

The contribution of family carers to the State is often undervalued and under-recognised. The vast majority of family carers, including young carers, do not receive carer's allowance. We in the Rural Independent Group support this motion and the call to increase the income disregard per week to €450 for the single rate and €900 for the household rate. According to the motion, this would cost approximately €47 million. That would be money very well spent.

Women provide more demanding and intensive forms of care than men, such as bathing, dressing, incontinence care and support with complex tasks. I also recognise the great contribution men make. It is more likely to be concentrated in care management, household maintenance, shopping and transportation, which are also very important roles. I want to ensure that when people are allocated home help and care, they actually get it and all the services and supports can be put in place to help those people. We had a situation where people giving care were getting a miserly sum of money and transport and having to wait enormous lengths of time for it. That has to be put to a stop. They should get the money when they need it and they should get the amount they need.

Deputy Richard O'Donoghue

I thank Deputy Harkin for bringing forward this motion. Qualifying for carer's allowance is not easy. People must be means tested, be over 18 years of age and provide care for a minimum of 35 hours per week. They cannot work outside the home for more than 18.5 hours per week. There are 500,000 carers in Ireland with some aged ten to 17 years old providing regular unpaid care for family members. It is estimated that family carers save the State €20 billion per annum but the Government makes it harder for them to qualify to become carers. Does that make sense? The Government itself is supposed to be the carer of the country and yet it makes it harder and harder for people to care.

I know of a family with six acres of land and a couple of cattle. The husband was working the bit of land plus he was working outside; the work on the land was only as a pastime. His wife began to care for his mother and applied for carer's allowance. They assessed a person who had 6 acres of land as a means that prevented a person being cared for at home. What this family had to do was the mother had to go to a nursing home and his wife had to go to work full time to pay for the nursing care. Does that make sense when they are saving the Government €20 billion per annum? Is that caring? I do not think so. We need to make it easier for carers to care for others.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

I thank Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group for bringing this very important motion before the House. I thank all the carers who do excellent work in County Kerry, especially the home carers. We talk about carers. When someone is caring for someone who needs a lot of care, they are actually living in their world for the 365 days and nights of every year. I know one particular man who raised a grand family and at the same time, saw after his sister. He is doing it today; he does it every day. He is on whatever payment he is on but he is only getting half-rate carer's allowance which is €180 per week for his efforts every year, throughout the years. The trouble then is respite. He is lucky to get one week of respite a year. He cannot go anywhere. He lives in his sister's world the whole time. What about the parents in their 80s who are caring for elderly children who are now in their 50s? These are people with physical and mental disabilities who cannot or will not ever be able to fend for themselves. Then we have a place like St. Mary of the Angels being closed down. As each patient dies, that bed is not being made available anymore. I had a situation a number of months ago where parents could not get their son into this place. Another lady could not get her daughter in and the option she was given was to take her daughter up to County Meath. That is the kind of system we have in this country.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I compliment Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group on this excellent motion. Year after year, the subject of carers comes up. Family Carers Ireland is mentioned. Indeed, Councillor Richie Molloy is the manager in south Tipperary. All the groups are mentioned and we give them lip service, promises and praise but they get no fundamental respect budget after budget. They got small bits and pieces but carers from the oldest to the youngest need to be recognised for the work they do. Statistics have proven that there are so many children doing family caring. Children should be out ag súgradh agus ag dul ar scoil and not expected to care for loved ones. It is time we had a proper recognition of what family carers do. We need to get rid of the grinches out of the system who would deny assistance to people with 6 acres of land, such as those mentioned by Deputy O'Donoghue, as if they are going to make a fortune on it. They are watching every minute to pull back supports. We need to support the people in their homes because keeping them out of the hospital means they are happier and they thrive and recover. I salute the carers but saluting them is not enough. We need to support them.

Deputy Michael Collins

I commend the Independent Group on putting forward this motion. It is way past time for the Government to introduce a programme of reforms related to carer's payments and in particular, the need to address the inadequacies created by the existing means test. The importance of carers cannot be overstated. They provide a crucial service that helps to maintain the dignity and independence of those they care for. Like many others here, I could spend hours talking about carers and the injustices this Government has forced upon them. Imagine working every day, taking care of someone and their every single need, practically being a nurse to someone, and not getting paid for it. No one in this country will work for nothing. They should not be working for nothing. Carers have saved the State a fortune. Without them, the already broken health system would collapse. One lady I know of, among many, has a child with cancer. She has had to leave her job. She was told last week she is not entitled to carer's allowance. Another lady who looks after her elderly father and mother gets a pittance as her husband is working. It is time that the carers of this country were given what they deserve. This allowance should not be means tested. The Minister has to sit up and listen to this excellent motion put forward today.

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection (Deputy Joe O'Brien)

Throughout the term of this Government, we have sought to make sure the interests of carers and the people they care for remain a focus of our priorities. During the pandemic and the cost-of-living pressures, and notwithstanding the significant demands on the Exchequer, the Government has worked to ensure those on caring payments and the people they care for have been supported. The approach we have taken to date has been targeted and has involved increases to payment rates in conjunction with earnings disregard increases. As the Minister mentioned in her opening statement, the changes to income disregards for carer's allowance were the first changes to be made to carer's allowance means tests in 14 years. Changes meant that carers on a reduced rate moved to a higher payment. In addition, many carers who did not qualify for a payment due to their means are now brought into the carer's allowance system for the first time.

As the Minister has previously stated, she has committed to carrying out a broader review of means testing this year which will include a review of carer's allowance means test provisions. I flag as well that it will also include the overtime issue raised by Deputy Sherlock earlier. It is important to acknowledge that there are a range of other supports for carers provided by the Department which are not based on a means assessment such as the carer's support grant, carer's benefit and the domiciliary care allowance. The carer's support grant is a payment for all carers, even those not in receipt of carer's allowance. It can be claimed by carers regardless of their means or social insurance contributions. This grant was increased as part of budget 2021 to €1,850 - its highest ever rate. It is estimated that expenditure on this grant will be over €268 million in 2023. Carer's benefit is based on social insurance contributions. It is a payment made to people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person in need of full-time care. It is payable for a period of up to two years for each care recipient and is estimated to cost €48 million in 2023. Domiciliary care allowance is payable to a parent or guardian in respect of a child who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention, substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age. As part of budget 2023, we increased the rate of the payment by €20.50 to €330 per month. Expenditure this year is expected to be almost €247 million. Since 2015, there have been significant increases across all carer's schemes. The number of people claiming carer's allowance has increased by 52%; the number of people claiming carer's benefit has increased by 68%; and the largest relative increases were to domiciliary care allowances with an increase to 82% of recipients.

Of course there are other improvements we can make that will positively impact on carers. The Government has committed, as part of decisions made on foot of the Pensions Commission recommendations, to providing contributions that can be used to qualify for a pension to carers who are out of the workforce due to caring responsibilities for long periods and who were previously unable to qualify based on their social insurance contributions. This was announced as part of a series of landmark reforms of the State pension system in September. Officials in the Department are working to operationalise it for January 2024. While the Department of Social Protection provides very valuable income supports, carers often have more wide-ranging and broader needs including respite care, home care hours and access to disability services. Therefore, this Government has made a number of commitments specifically for carers, including reviewing and updating the national carers' strategy. This review is being led by the Department of Health and will address broader issues facing family carers. The Department of Health is also working to establish a commission on care in line with the programme for Government commitment. This commission will assess how care for older people is provided and how to better align care that is provided in different settings, including in the home and by family carers.

Earlier this month, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth announced the Government's intention to hold a referendum on gender equality as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and the special Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality. These recommendations include replacing Article 41(2) with non-gender-specific language and providing recognition of care within the home and the wider community. It is envisaged that the referendum will take place in November of this year.

The Government is very aware of the challenges faced by young carers and echoes the sentiment that they would be supported to have opportunities and a life outside of their caring role.

The national carers' strategy commits to supporting children and young people with caring responsibilities and to protecting them from adverse impacts of caring. The Departments of Education and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the HSE are tasked with actions such as raising awareness among education providers about young carers and identifying support services needed by young carers. The Dormant Accounts Fund from the Departments of Social Protection and Rural and Community Development is being used to support projects that will help these young carers. Last December, funding of almost €700,000 was provided to support projects aimed at improving the lives of carers, including young carers. Projects selected under the fund included the establishment of a young carers' national online support network as well as targeted activities such as career advice and preparation for college and training. Successful projects under this initiative will run until June 2024.

As the Minister previously stated, this Government continues to improve supports for carers and those they care for. However, all Governments must try to balance competing demands. The priority is to support people who are trying to make ends meet and to help the most vulnerable in our society. While this includes carers, it also includes older people, people with disabilities and low-income families. Maintaining social welfare rates at an adequate level within the fiscal resources available to Government is an ongoing process and is guided by evidence on supporting those most in need. An integral part of the annual budget process is assessing potential changes to payments and supports so that we can target scarce resources towards those most at risk of poverty. The Government will continue to keep the range of income supports available to carers under review so that the overall objectives of the schemes are met.

It is important to emphasise that the Department of Social Protection is committed to continuing its long-standing practice of consultation and close engagement with stakeholder representative groups for carers and people with disabilities. The Department will host the annual carers' forum in May, which will be attended by a range of Departments. This will be an opportunity to hear first-hand the experience of family carers.

Deputy Marian Harkin

I welcome pupils and teachers from Grange Post Primary School in Sligo to the Dáil today. I think they were in the Gallery earlier. I think another school is there now. I am delighted that they got a chance to hear this important debate on carers and caring because the truth is that many of those students will, in time, have to either give care or be the recipient of care. That is the reality for all of us. If we are lucky enough to live long enough, we will either receive care or give care. That is why this debate about supporting family carers is so crucial. For too long, it was seen as women's work and something that happened inside the home. The front door was closed, they were let get on with it and it was forgotten about. Thankfully, there has been recognition, particularly over recent years, that care is not a women's issue but a societal issue. It goes right to the heart of how we live and we construct the society we live in. That is why this Government and all states need to support family carers.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister and all my colleagues who are here today, who made valuable, measured contributions to this discussion. I am pleased that the Government is not opposing the motion. I hope that means that it will respond to the requests in the motion. When we debate matters in this Chamber, it is not just about the words we use. It is about the actions that we take following our discussions. We might not agree on everything. The Minister of State might not deliver everything that I or other Members are looking for but we hope that he and the Minister will be able to deliver for family carers and fully recognise their contribution. Our role today is to make the strongest, best case that we can for family carers.

I listened to the Minister's contribution. She told us she was determined to do more and that she would take on board the points raised in this motion. She said that supporting carers will be a priority for her once again in budget 2024. All of us in this Chamber and every family carer in Ireland will be pleased to hear that commitment. We look forward to this Government meeting and realising that commitment.

The Minister itemised the various supports for family carers provided by her Department. There are a number. Things have certainly improved. Supports and resources have improved, by and large. There are some glaring exceptions, which I will come to in a minute, but they have improved over a number of years. She made the point that the number of carers receiving carer's allowance has nearly doubled in 13 years, from approximately 50,000 to 93,000. The figures do not lie but it is important to remember that 93,000 includes nearly 43,000 on the half-rate carer's allowance, which is a new feature and is welcome. Since half-rate carer's allowance is a newer feature, comparing those two sets of figures is not actually comparing like with like. It is important to remember that of that 93,000 figure, while 43,000 are on a half rate, some of the rest are on a reduced rate of carer's allowance, not the full allowance. I do not have the figures to hand, but from memory, it is perhaps around 10%.

The Minister gave an explanation to one of the issues I raised earlier. It is that the income disregard for a single carer at €350 was less than half the household or family disregard of €750. I was surprised when I saw that. The response she gave me was that the idea of increasing the disregard for a couple by slightly more was to try to help the person who gives up work but was missing out because of his or her partner's income. Maybe, in an obtuse way, that recognises the need of individualisation of the means test for carer's allowance. I will come back to that in a minute but I want to make the point strongly that there is another fundamental issue. Many single carers also give up work and, crucially, the cost of caring is not substantially different in a single household to the cost in a household that has a number of members and other incomes. While I know carer's allowance is not meant to contribute to the cost of caring, the reality is that this is precisely what it does. That is where carer's allowance goes. I ask the Minister to look at this again and check how it impacts on the real world of caring. I ask her to include in that calculation the cost of caring.

I want to come back to the proposal about an individualised approach to the means-testing of carers' payments. The Minister suggested that this might mean moving carer's allowance from her Department to the Department of Health. If that is necessary, that is fine, but we need to fundamentally deal with the gender bias that is inherent in the assessment of the disregard for carer's allowance and move to an individualised model. We need to listen to the citizens' assembly and the Joint Committee on Gender Equality in this regard.

We need to have not just a referendum in November that proposes to replace Article 41.2 with wording that recognises the immense contribution and public good given by Ireland's family carers, which is critical, but we also need to put in place supports and resources for family carers to continue to care. The referendum is good but we then need to make good on that referendum. As well as that, my core ask is that the Government increases the income disregard for the carer's allowance to €900 per week per household, and to at least half of that, €450 per week, for single carers in budget 2024. This will simply mean that the income disregard will just keep pace with average weekly household incomes. That is a basic ask. While I know the Minister of State was not in government at the time, in the document Towards 2016, which was a ten-year social partnership framework agreement from 2006 to 2015, priority action 5 entitled "Caring Responsibilities" gave a commitment in 2006 to expand the limits, that is, the income disregard, for the carer's allowance so that all those on average household incomes could qualify. This was achieved in 2008 but we have gone backwards since then, and we are only asking that the commitment given 17 years ago be finally delivered.

My last word goes to a number of family carers who are in the Public Gallery. I welcome them and thank them for their huge contribution, for the care they provide, for the public good they deliver to Ireland, and for their love. I mentioned this earlier and I was really pleased Deputy Bríd Smith reiterated this point because caring is about love, family, human decency, recognising the needs of others, and responding to them in a humane way. I also want to recognise the representatives from Family Carers Ireland in the Public Gallery who have been tireless advocates for family carers and who provide solid research and evidence-based proposals to support family carers.

I am happy the Minister is not opposing the motion. However, the Minister told us the Government must find a balance and meet competing demands. Looking at the income disregard for the carer's allowance, it must be remembered that it is still not at the level it was at in 2008 and needs to be restored.

Question put and agreed to.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 11.53 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar meán lae.

Sitting suspended at 11.53 a.m. and resumed at 12 noon.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 22 Mar 2023

Reform of Carer's Allowance Scheme: Motion [Private Members]

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 22 Mar 2023