Ms Clare Duffy:

If the means test was abolished in the morning, about 6,000 people would be brought within the carer’s allowance net. We are only talking about 6,000 people, and they are the people who cannot get the carer’s support grant paid as a stand-alone payment or paid manually, as it is called, throughout the year. If we multiply that out, it is about €69 million a year, off the top of my head.

However, that is not the only additional cost because to be fair, people who currently are getting carer’s allowance at a reduced level would automatically shoot up to the big level. That is the kind of money you are talking about. However, the outcome of that and what we would achieve is something that people who have been in the system for a long time have sought. I would not mess about and start trying to measure the severity of the condition. Get rid of it. It will not be as bad.

A number of years ago, a significant amount of money was put aside to give all carers a GP visit card. It did not cost as much as we had thought it would. I do not think that this is as awful as we think it is. It is very doable. Therefore, I am in favour of getting rid of it. Again, we have a very good relationship with the people in the Department in Longford who administer this. They are very good people. They still will be incredibly busy if the means test were abolished, just making sure that the medical assessments are fulfilled and checking the potential requirement to provide full-time care. Even just those two things would protect the scheme enough from abuse. I am all in favour of just getting rid of the means test.