Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I acknowledge the Deputy's commitment to this issue. In his contributions as the Chairman of the committee in question, he singled out carers as his top priority. As such and due to his patent commitment, I owe it to him to take the issue seriously.

As the Deputy said, we have made substantial progress. The means test for carer's allowance has been eased significantly in recent years, particularly with the introduction of disregards for spouses' earnings. In budget 2006 we provided for an increase in the income disregard on the carer's allowance means test to €290 per week for a single person and €580 per week for a couple from April, which will ensure that a couple with two children will be able to earn up to €32,925 per annum and still receive the maximum rate of carer's allowance. The same couple will be able to earn up to €54,400 and receive the minimum rate of carer's allowance as well as the free travel and household benefits and the respite care grant.

We discussed the possibility of abolishing the means test and I have listened to the points made. I have an open mind in terms of the allocation of funds and will keep the matter under review. If I want to invest an amount of money in the carer's allowance, the issue is one of whether it is the best use of that resource. The Deputy is correct that I will not be ideological in this regard. If a measure makes sense, I will examine it. Due to their costs, means tests are sometimes not worth having.

The respite care grant scheme was extended in June 2005 to all persons providing full-time care and attention regardless of their means. It is a universal payment to which those persons who do not receive a carer's income support payment from the Department are entitled subject to meeting the full-time carer condition. The respite care grant was increased to €1,200 from June. The number of claimants on the scheme is 24,981 at an estimated expenditure of €223 million. The number of respite care grants is 34,300 at an expenditure of €34.3 million.

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