Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct. Carers do incredible work; I accept that. I meet them in my constituency. We help them fill out the forms and we help them to get the benefits, and all those things. I am the first Minister in 14 years to do anything about the means test for the carer's allowance. It was an issue that I was very passionate about. That change means that all carers currently are reduced rate of payment will see their payment increase from next June. It will also mean that tens of thousands more carers, who did not qualify up to this point due to the income threshold, will now qualify for the payment. The increase in the income disregard for a couple was something that I really wanted to improve, because I was aware that in many cases a partner who was a carer, and usually a mother, might have to give up her job to care for a sick child, but because the husband was working or they had savings, they just did not qualify for the benefit. As a result of the changes I am making, a couple can earn up to €750 a week, and the first €50,000 in savings will not be impacted or counted. I know the family carers and Care Alliance Ireland have warmly welcomed these changes. We have increased the carer's support grant, we have increased the weekly payment and we have reformed the means test. My next priority is to ensure that we can provide carers with a pension. That is something that I hope to progress as part of our consideration of the report of the Commission on Pensions.

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