Alan Dillon
Question:78. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to review the eligibility criteria for carers and provide further financial supports to those who provide full-time care. [50710/22]
View answerThursday, 13 October 2022
Questions (78)
Written answers
The 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.
My department provides a comprehensive package of carers’ income supports including Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Combined spending on these payments to carers in 2022 is estimated to exceed €1.5 billion.The Carer’s Allowance is the main scheme by which the 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. At the end of August, there were 91,658 people in receipt of Carer's Allowance. The projected expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2022 is approximately €990 million.
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.
While the caring requirements of the caree(s) will be different, this does not affect the rates of the allowance, which is intended to provide an income support for the carer and does not depend on individual care requirements. 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
In addition to Carer's Allowance, my department provides non-means tested payment to carers, as follows:
- The Carers Benefit payment is an entitlement based on social insurance contributions. Carer’s Benefit is a payment made to insured people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person(s) in need of full-time care. It is payable for a period of 2 years (104 weeks) for each care recipient and may be claimed over separate periods up to a total of 2 years (104 weeks). At the end of August there were 3,298 recipients of Carer’s Benefit. Projected expenditure on Carer’s Benefit in 2022 is estimated at €48.6 million.
- The Carer's Support Grant is automatically paid to people in receipt of Carer's Allowance, Carer’s Benefit and Domiciliary Care allowance in June of each year. Other carers not in receipt of a carer’s payment may also be eligible for the Grant. The objective of the Carer’s Support Grant is to support carers in their caring role and carers may use the grant in a manner that is appropriate to their needs. The grant is paid in respect of each person being cared for to take account of the additional cost of providing care and to recognise the particular challenges faced by these carers. As part of Budget Measures 2021, the rate of the grant was increased by €150. The new rate of €1,850 came into effect from June 2021. This is the highest rate of the grant since its introduction. On Thursday 2 June the grant was paid to some 121,000 carers and their families. The overall cost of the grant in 2022 is expected to be over €262 million.
- 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 you may claim Domiciliary Care Allowance. At the end of August some 48,8101 families benefited from the payment in respect of 54,558 children. The projected expenditure on Domiciliary Care Allowance in 2022 is approximately €203 million.
In Budget 2023, in acknowledgement of the crucial role that family carers play in our society and the particular challenges they face in light of the current cost of living crisis, I announced a number of further financial supports for carers. These measures benefitting family carers directly include:
- €500 Cost of Living lump sum payment to be paid in November.
- Cost of Living Double Payment to Carers to be paid in October.
- Carers will also receive the Christmas Bonus Double Payment in early December.
- €12 increase in the maximum rate of Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit with effect from January 2023 with proportionate increases for people receiving a reduced rate.
- The Half-rate Carer’s Allowance will be disregarded in the means assessment for Fuel Allowance with effect from January 2023.
- Domiciliary Care Allowance will increase by €20.50 to €330 per month with effect from January 2023.
I can assure the Deputy that I will continue to keep the range of income supports provided to family carers by this Department under review and will ensure that consultations with carer’s representative groups continue so that the overall objectives of the carer income support schemes provided are met. However, any changes to the eligibility conditions to current supports or further financial supports provided by this Department would have implications for overall spending and could only be addressed in an overall budgetary context.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.