Ms Catherine Cox:

On best practice, Finland and Austria both adopt good practice and are mentioned in the participation income report. Austria has a tiered payment. I think it is between €1,200 and €1,750 per month, depending on the level of care. Somebody could be providing full-time care but perhaps caring for a profoundly disabled child and the payment is higher in that situation. They are two countries that would be good to look at regarding best practice. Regarding the assessment criteria, there are a number of issues around the carer's allowance at the moment. First, it is means-tested, but it also looks at how many hours of care are being provided. I imagine something like that would remain for participation income; it would look at however many hours. If somebody is providing more than 35 hours per week, they are caring full time. There are 168 hours in a week and many carers, such as Ms Skelly, are probably caring 24-7. That would be one way of looking at it. The other criteria under the existing scheme include habitual residency and, again, the issue is whether that would remain or change. The one that Mr. Musgrave mentioned is the 18.5 hour threshold. We would like to see the 18.5 hours that can be worked outside the home addressed because, as has been said, in some cases, a carer, perhaps with a child with a disability, may be able to work outside the home and may be able to have additional income in their home, which would support that family. Those need to be addressed as well within the criteria. It would be based on medical grounds, including whether the person is providing full-time care and the need of the person being cared for. It would be a needs test, as opposed to a means test.