Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank Deputy Conaghan for his comments. On carer's benefits and restoration of the respite care grant, which I am pleased to have been able to provide for, expenditure on carers in 2012 was €772 million. Expenditure in this regard for this year was €866 million. It is estimated that expenditure in this area will be approximately €911 million, which is close to €1 billion. This was an issue of much debate during the early lifetime of this Government. In 2011, there were 50,600 carers in receipt of the carer's allowance. This year there were 60,000 carers in receipt of the carer's allowance, which is a 20% increase in the number of carers in Ireland during the term of office of this Government.

Members will recall that when I took up my position as Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, many problems were being experienced in relation to the IT platforms through which applications and payments for people such as carers are processed. Following a streamlining of these measures the number of people in receipt of carer's allowance has been increasing steadily every year and is now, as I said, 20% higher. In regard to domiciliary care allowance, while previously there were 23,900 people in receipt of this payment in respect of children this year the number of recipients increased to 27,990, which is an increase of approximately 4,000. There was much commentary at that time, although not by anybody present here today, to the effect that people were, somehow or other, being prevented from accessing the domiciliary care or carer's allowances. As I have just indicated, the number of recipients in respect of both payments has increased.

Members will be aware that the respite care grant is also being restored, which I welcome, and will now be called the carer support grant, the reason for which is based on the fact that many of the recipients are caring for people with whom they are living and are spending the grant on those people. In other cases, it is spent, without a doubt, on respite for either the person being cared for or the carer.

We are just going to call it the carer's support grant from now on. The number of people receiving this payment has increased from 76,700 to 90,550. There was a very significant increase in the numbers between 2011 and 2015. I assure those who know of cases involving people who should apply for carer's allowance or domiciliary care allowance that the new systems have worked very well. We are getting more people through by using these systems.