Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1182. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Social Protection if the income threshold for the carer’s allowance will be expanded in the context of budget 2023 negotiations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39597/22]
View answerMy Department provides a range of income supports for family carers including Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2022 is estimated to exceed €1.5 billion.
Carer’s Allowance is the primary income support through which the Department supports carers in the community. Carer’s Allowance is a payment to people on low incomes who are caring full-time for a person who needs support because of age, disability or illness, including mental illness. The two principal conditions for receipt of Carer’s Allowance are that full time care and attention is required and being provided, and that the means test which applies is satisfied.
The conditions attached to payment 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.
In Budget 2022, I announced significant improvements to the means test for Carer's Allowance, in recognition of the vital role that carers play in society. These were the first changes to the means test in 14 years.
- The capital and savings disregard for the Carer’s Allowance means assessment was increased from €20,000 to €50,000, aligning it with that which applies for Disability Allowance.
- For carers who work, the weekly income disregard was increased from €332.50 to €350 for a single person, and from €665 to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner.
The changes outlined came into effect on 2 June and many Carers who up to now did not qualify for a payment due to means will now be brought into the Carer's Allowance system for the first time.
The current Carer's Allowance disregards are the most generous income disregards in the social welfare system and mean that, in the case of a couple, earnings of up to €39,000 p.a. are disregarded. By comparison, the income disregard applied to Disability Allowance is €140 per week. For Jobseeker's Allowance, it is €20 per day up to a maximum of €60, and the balance is assessed at 60%. For Jobseeker's Transitional Payment, the weekly income disregard is €165 with 50% of the balance assessed as means.
In order to learn of and assess priorities within the sector, I and my Department officials actively engage with carer's representative groups on an ongoing basis. As the Deputy will be aware, as part of the annual budgetary process my Department invites pre-Budget submissions from carer representative bodies. As well as giving consideration to the submissions received, my Department will host the annual Pre-Budget Forum on 27 July which representative bodies attend. The Pre-Budget Forum is an opportunity for me to meet with groups from the community and voluntary sector, including carer’s representative groups. At this event I will gain a deeper insight into the issues they are most concerned about in the context of the upcoming budget.
Any further improvements to the Carer’s Allowance payment will be considered as part of Budget 2023 negotiations as well as an overall policy context.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
