I thank the Members of the House for giving me this opportunity to speak on this motion. The Government is strongly committed to supporting carers. Without being overly political about it, I am prepared to stand on my record and on the record of this Government which, on any examination of the changes that have taken place in relation to the carer's allowance, is second to none. Any objective analysis of the improvements that have taken place in this area will show that they took place during the Government's tenure.
The matter we are addressing cuts across the remit of a number of Departments. It encompasses the provision of income support, tax initiatives for people who care for people in the home or who employ a carer, the provision of respite care and other community services supported by the health boards, and the provision of housing supports to assist people in adapting their homes.
A co-ordinated approach is necessary if we are to support care in the community. We are delivering that co-ordinated approach. We must, of course, provide appropriate support to carers through the tax and social welfare systems. The carer's allowance is a means-tested payment administered by my Department for carers on low income who look after people in need of full-time care and attention.
In An Action Programme for the Millennium, the Government committed to progressively relaxing the qualifying criteria for the carer's allowance to ensure that more carers can get the benefit, and to increasing the value of the allowance in real terms. As part of that commitment I published an overall review of the carer's allowance in October 1998. The submissions and proposals of all organisations representing carers were considered as part of the review process and are comprehensively addressed in this report.
Based on the research carried out in the review, the current number of full-time carers is estimated to be 50,000, covering carers of older people and adults and children with disabilities. At the end of October 2000, there were 16,176 carers in receipt of carer's allowance. These figures indicate that 32% of full-time carers are in receipt of the carer's allowance payment which is an increase of 75% in the number of carers in receipt of the allowance since the Government took office. It is important to repeat that when I became Minister the number of people in receipt of the carer's allowance was 9,000, while it is now upwards of 16,200. This large increase is reflected in the expenditure on carer's allowance, which was £36.5 million in 1997 and is projected to be £78.3 million this year, representing an increase of 115%. No other allowance or benefit paid out by my Department has increased by so much. These facts clearly demonstrate the good work and progress which has been made by the Government over the past three years.
Arising from the review, I introduced major improvements to the carer's allowance scheme in both the 1999 and 2000 budgets. In addition to increases in the weekly income support payments, I have also put in place many other supports for carers in receipt of carer's allowance or carers who are caring for recipients of a constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance. These include the free travel pass for all qualified carers. I take on board Senator Ridge's point in relation to free travel. This is a broader issue and something my Department has started to address. In the review of the free schemes, we indicated in relation to free travel that a social transport fund should be set up in conjunction with my Department and a number of other Departments, local authorities and county development boards to provide transport services in areas where there is no public transport. Supports also include free telephone rental allowance, free electricity allowance and free television licence schemes for all qualified carers. All these improvements have been implemented since I became Minister.
An annual payment of £300 towards respite care is payable to all carers in receipt of carer's allowance and to other qualified carers to use in whatever way they choose. The feedback on this payment in enabling carers to have a break from their caring duties has been very good. I have introduced flexibility into the scheme by relaxing the "full-time care and attention" rule to allow carers in receipt of carer's allowance to take up paid employment of up to ten hours per week. I have abolished the residency conditions that required carers to be resident with the care recipient. Instead, each non-resident claim for carer's allowance will now be assessed on a case by case basis. I made this change very recently, doing away with the rule in relation to close proximity.
Other improvements mean that qualified carers are no longer required to satisfy the requirement to have 13 paid contributions when claiming disability benefit. All other carers are credited with PRSI contributions. Carers who have ceased their caring responsibilities are eligible for the back to education allowance scheme and the back to work allowance scheme. More recently I introduced the new carer's benefit scheme. This scheme will be extremely beneficial for those carers who experience the tremendous difficulties involved in caring and working full time. The scheme allows carers to leave the workforce for up to 15 months and receive a non-means-tested payment. In addition, a unique feature of this new scheme will be the retention of the carer's employment rights for that period. This scheme was introduced last month.
As with all other social assistance schemes, a means test in which the income of both the applicant and his or her partner is assessable is applied to the carer's allowance to ensure resources are directed to those in greatest need. The means test has been eased significantly in the past few years, most notably with the introduction of disregards of income from employment and other sources. The review of the carer's allowance recommended that a disregard of £75 per week should be applied to the income of a single carer and a disregard of £150 per week should be applied to the joint means of a married couple. This measure was implemented in August 1999. The effect of these changes mean that a couple with two children could have a joint annual income of £9,152 and qualify for the maximum carer's allowance while a couple with up to £19,500 could qualify for a minimum carer's allowance and also receive an annual respite care grant and benefit under the free schemes.
The estimated cost of abolishing the means test and extending the carer's allowance at existing levels to all full-time carers would be in the region of £179 million annually. To the Senators who raised this, I would nearly guarantee that a Minister from any other political party would not do away with the means test. The strong recommendation from within the Department is that the means test cannot be abolished. I wager there would be no change in that, even if there was a change in Government.
The review noted that the carer's allowance is an income support payment, not a payment for caring. It examined the means test and considered that it should be maintained as a way of targeting resources towards those most in need. A wide range of services, including community care and respite care, are required to support carers in their caring role. It is doubtful if a payment to all carers, regardless of their income, could be considered to be the best use of resources. However, the position in regard to the means test and the disregard will be kept under review.
The primary objective of the social welfare system is to provide income support and, as a general rule, only one social welfare payment is payable to an individual. The review of the carer's allowance examined the question of paying the carer's allowance in conjunction with another social welfare payment. It noted that the allowance is an income support payment and not a payment for caring. The practice of paying only one allowance is a feature, with very few exceptions, of all social welfare payments and is designed to ensure that resources available are not used to make two income support payments to any one individual. The review concluded that this practice should continue. A person qualifying for two social welfare payments will always receive the higher payment to which he or she is entitled.
The review proposes the introduction of a non-means tested continual care payment to recognise carers providing the highest levels of care and to promote care in the community. It envisaged that this payment would be made, irrespective of income or social welfare entitlement, to carers caring for those who are in the highest category of dependency.
To differentiate between the levels of care and care needs, the review considered that a needs assessment encompassing the needs of the care recipient and the carer should be introduced and that a continual care payment could be introduced following the introduction of such an assessment. It was considered that the needs assessment would separate care needs from income support needs and could be used by all State organisations which provide reliefs or grants to those in need of care.
Establishing a pilot scheme of needs assessment for carers and people needing care was identified as a priority in the Government's review of its action programme. My Department is represented on a working group, which was set up under the chairmanship of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt – who will speak later in this debate – to examine the feasibility of introducing a new approach focusing on the total needs of the carer and the person in need of care. I understand that the Western Health Board has undertaken a pilot project in its area and the results of that study are being considered by the working group. The Eastern Regional Health Authority is also doing work in this area.
We are also committed to improving the range of essential community supports to carers. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, will outline the significant improvements that have taken place in that area.
The review group also examined the issue of a cost of care allowance and considered it to be within the remit of the Department of Health and Children. It is similar to the requests for a cost of disability payment, which the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities recommended should be introduced by the Department of Health and Children.
The details of a range of new social inclusion measures were included in the Government's review of its action programme only a year ago. I take this opportunity to reiterate a point that building an inclusive society – one in which everyone feels he or she belongs – is a key objective of the Government. Following from the NESC's call for an increased emphasis on social inclusion, the review of the action programme sets out a range of specific commitments to improve the position of all our people.
One of the key commitments is that a co-ordinated approach addressing the needs of carers should be established, including a new partnership model to meet the needs of long-term care and a pilot scheme of needs assessment for carers and people needing care.
To this end, one of the remaining proposals arising from the review of the carer's allowance will be examined. A consultancy study will be undertaken to examine issues relating to long-term care, in terms of cost and possible partnership approaches and the possible role of the PRSI system in this regard. The study will examine possible future schemes, the effects on the social insurance fund and estimate the number of people who might qualify. It is expected this study will commence before the end of the year.
All the measures I outlined are useless if people do not know of their existence. This year I have undertaken a massive information campaign throughout my Department, which has issued more than 350,000 newsletters to pensioners. More than 100,000 people with disabilities have received an information booklet outlining the support available, not only from my Department but from the various Government Departments.
Only last week I published an information booklet, which has been sent to more than 16,000 carers. I am delighted a number of Members have a copy of it with them. The objective of this information booklet is to advise carers and care recipients of the main social welfare and other entitlements available to them. It also contains information about employment and educational supports that my Department has introduced and a range of services provided by other agencies.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to outline what the Government has done and is doing in this vital area. The facts I presented to Members prove without doubt that the Government has taken many positive and innovative steps towards improving the situation of carers during its term of office.
As Members will have heard, mine is not the only Department that has introduced much needed measures. My colleagues, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for the Environment and Local Government have also brought forward proposals of assistance to carers. The Government is conscious that such a cross-cutting approach is required to successfully tackle the issues facing carers.
We recognise the need to do more and I welcome the responsible proposals that have been put forward in this House and elsewhere to improve the position of carers. As a Government, we are committed to supporting care in the community to the maximum extent possible. People want to live in their own homes with their families. Families want to be able to care for their loved ones at home. We have a great tradition of family support. Public services can never replace the vital work carried out by families and communities. As Minister with responsibility for family affairs, I believe the Government must work in partnership with families. It was with that in mind that I introduced the extensive range of measures in support of carers during my time in office.
The development of the range of supports for carers will continue to be a priority for myself and my colleagues in other Departments and, building on the foundations now in place, we can continue to develop the types of services that recognise the value of the caring ethos and which provide real support and practical assistance to people who devote their time to improving the quality of life of others.
Senators can rest assured that the Government will give careful consideration to all reasonable proposals made in this and the other House and by parliamentary parties in the coming budget and during the remainder of its term of office.
I thank the Members concerned for tabling this motion, as it has given me the opportunity to outline the position up to now. I will bear in mind the proposals they make in this regard in the forthcoming budget, but, as Senator Cosgrave said, the reality is the list I have is much longer than my arm. At a recent pre-budget forum 28 lobby groups, including the Carers Association and Care Alliance – there could have been many more if there had been room to facilitate them – made their demands. The cost of implementing the major proposals put forward amounted to approximately £4.5 billion. I remind Senators that the budgetary increase introduced in my Department last year – the total package amounted to £432 million – was the highest in the history of this State. The position in which I am in reminds me of the story of the loaves and the fishes.