I propose to take Questions Nos. 193 and 196 together.
Carer's benefit is a social insurance payment for persons who leave employment to care for another person for up to 15 months. Carer's leave, which is the responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, provides job protected leave of absence for up to 15 months, with employers being obliged to maintain the employee's employment rights for this period.
It is important to note that each care recipient may receive a total of 65 weeks care. This may be claimed as a single continuous period or in separate shorter time periods. In the event of a person's carer's benefit expiring and the need for income support still existing, it is, of course, open to the carer to apply for carer's allowance.
Any extension of carer's benefit would, in addition to the direct cost implications, have implications for carer's leave. Carer's allowance is a social assistance payment, the primary objective of which is to provide income support to low income carers. In line with other social assistance schemes, a means test is applied to the carer's allowance so as to ensure that limited 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 spouses' earnings.
Paying a carer's allowance to all carers irrespective of income would have substantial cost implications. The cost would depend on the exact nature of the proposal but has been tentatively established at €180 million in a full year. Any improvements to the carer's allowance or carer's benefit schemes which involve additional expenditure will be considered in the context of the budget.