Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2020
735. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the criteria and level of payout for family carers might be revised in view of the hours such persons work and the billions of euro per year these persons save the State. [15210/20]
View answerThe Government acknowledges the crucial role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy.
The main income supports to carers provided by my Department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Combined spending on these payments to carers in 2020 is expected to exceed €1.3 billion.
The Carer’s Allowance is the main scheme by which my Department provides income support to carers in the community. Carer’s Allowance is a means tested social assistance payment awarded to those carers who are caring for certain people who require full-time care and attention. The primary objective of the payment is to provide an income support to carers whose earning capacity is substantially reduced as a consequence of their caring responsibilities and in so doing to support the ongoing care of the person in respect of whom care is being provided. In doing this it also contributes to recognising the valuable role of carers and helping to maintain people with caring needs in their own homes and communities.
The means test for Carer's Allowance is one of the most generous means tests in the social welfare system, most notably with regard to spouse’s earnings. The amount of weekly earnings disregarded is €332.50 per week for a single person and €665 per week for a couple. This means that a couple with two children can earn in the region of €37,500 and qualify for the maximum rate of Carer's Allowance. A half-rate carer's allowance is also payable with other social welfare payments e.g. pensions and disability payments. Where carers are providing care to more than one person, an increase of 50% is applicable. Carers may also (subject to certain conditions) qualify for the:
- Household Benefits Package
- Free Travel Scheme
The conditions attached to payments of Carer’s Allowance are consistent with the overall conditions that apply to social assistance payments generally. This system of social assistance supports provides payments based on an income need with the means test playing the critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency – be that illness, disability, unemployment or caring. Carer's Allowance acts as an income support for those who cannot earn an income in the open labour market due to their caring responsibilities. The continued application of the means test not only ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need but that resources are targeted to those with greatest need.
Furthermore, as part of Budget measures 2020 the number of hours that a carer can engage in employment (or education or training) outside the home was increased from 15 hours to 18.5 hours.
Other available supports to family carers (that are not means-tested) include:-
Carer’s Support Grant: The Carer’s Support Grant is paid automatically to people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance. Other people who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment but who are providing full time care and attention are also eligible and can apply for a grant. The Carer’s Support Grant is an annual payment of €1,700 a year for each care recipient paid in a single lump sum with no requirement to satisfy a means test. Some 114,000 carers received the annual Carer's Support Grant on Thursday 4 June, 2020. The estimated expenditure on the Carer’s Support Grant this year is €237.32 million.
Domiciliary Care Allowance: Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly payment for a child aged under 16 with a severe disability, who requires ongoing care and attention, substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age. It is not means tested. The Domiciliary Care Allowance rate is €309.50 per month. There is no restriction on the number of children for whom a person may claim Domiciliary Care Allowance. In other words, a person caring for more than one child who qualifies for Domiciliary Care Allowance may claim the monthly allowance for each child.
I can assure the Deputy that I am very aware of the commitment and the key role carers play in society and I will keep the range of supports available to family carers under review. While I will seek to improve the supports available for carers, any changes must be considered in an overall budgetary context.
