Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
863. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost to her Department of removing the means test from carer’s benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20317/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government acknowledges the important 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. The projected expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2020 is approximately €919 million. Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2020 is expected to exceed €1.3 billion.
Carer’s Benefit is a payment made to insured people who leave the workforce to care for someone in need of full-time care and attention. Carer’s Benefit is an entitlement based on social insurance contributions and is not means tested.
Carer's Allowance is a means-tested payment for carers who look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention on a full-time basis. The means test for Carer's Allowance is one of the most generous 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. A couple with two children can earn in the region of €37,500 and qualify for the maximum rate of Carer's Allowance and given the tapered withdrawal approach, retain a payment of just under half-rate while earning €49,750. A half-rate carer's allowance is also payable with other welfare payments e.g. pensions and disability payments.
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.
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. Abolition of the means test for Carer’s Allowance would give rise to a very significant annual cost. Based on the number of carers identified in Census 2016, it is estimated that a universal carer’s payment could cost in the order of an additional €1.2 billion per annum.
I will continue to keep the range of supports provided by this Department under review and consultations with carer’s representative groups will continue to ensure that the overall objectives of the carer income support schemes provided are met. However, any changes to the current carer income supports provided by this Department would have implications for overall spending and would need to be addressed in an overall budgetary context.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
