Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 May 2023
485. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost to award foster carers' entitlements to PRSI credits to recognise their contribution as carers of vulnerable children on behalf of the State; and if this cohort will qualify for the enhanced State pension in January 2024. [24719/23]
View answerMatters related to foster caring are the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and Tusla. More widely, this Government acknowledges the important role that carers play and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, the current State Pension (Contributory) system provides for a range of measures including PRSI credits, Homemaking Disregards and HomeCaring Periods to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid employment in the calculation of a payment rate. Foster carers are entitled to the benefits of the Homemaker’s Scheme or HomeCaring Periods, on the same basis as other carers, and will qualify if the carer is in receipt of Child Benefit. If the foster carer is not in receipt of Child Benefit, they can still qualify for Homemaker’s Scheme or HomeCaring Periods provided the caring periods are confirmed by Tusla. Despite these measures, some long-term carers of incapacitated dependents may still face barriers in accessing the State Pension (Contributory). They may for example have difficulty establishing the minimum number of 10 years' paid contributions.I announced a series of landmark reforms to the State Pension system in September. The measures are in response to the Pensions Commission’s recommendations and represent the biggest ever structural reform of the Irish State Pension system.One of the most important reforms agreed by Government is enhanced State Pension provision for people who have been caring for incapacitated dependents for over 20 years. It will do this by attributing the equivalent of paid contributions to long-term carers to cover gaps in their contribution record. My Department will develop a system to register those caring periods so that the relevant contributions can be attributed to a long-term carer.My officials are currently working to implement the reforms, including the drafting of legislation and development of administrative and IT systems as necessary.
In their Strategic Plan for Fostercare Sevices, launched last year, Tusla stated that as of June 2022, there were 3,985 foster carers in Ireland. This department does not have data on how many of them would have enough social insurance contributions to qualify for the State Pension (contributory), credit contributions and other related information. It is therefore not possible to provide an estimate specifically for foster carers. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
