Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 16, between lines 38 and 39, to insert the following:"Amendment of section 467 of Principal Act (employed person taking care of incapacitated individual)

12.Section 467 of the Principal Act is amended in subsections (2) and (3) by substituting "€75,000" for "€50,000" in each place.".

Section 467 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief at the marginal rate for expenses incurred by an individual who employs a carer to take care of an incapacitated individual in his or her own home. This amendment increases the maximum amount of expenditure that qualifies for relief from €50,000 to €75,000 per annum. I decided to make this amendment on foot of a request I received from the Minister for Health, as the scheme greatly assists with people's preferred option to be able to remain in their own home. As a result, this frees up nursing home beds, which will help reduce waiting lists for such beds and relieve pressures on hospitals. Among the approximately 800 delayed discharges from hospitals are persons who could be cared for in their own homes. The most up to date available statistics show that in 2012 the scheme cost approximately €7.4 million in respect of 1,780 claimants. It is estimated the increase in the maximum amount allowable for tax relief to €75,000 per annum will cost approximately €350,000 in a full year. This additional cost can be justified given the importance of the scheme in allowing incapacitated individuals to be cared for in a home environment and the potential freeing up of acute hospital beds and nursing home places.

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