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

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important issue of the carer's allowance payment. I thank the Independent Group for bringing forward the motion. It is a timely discussion. I meet carers all the time through my constituency office and I see first-hand the unbelievable work they are doing. Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of improvements within the social welfare system to enhance the supports available for our carers. Would I like to go further? Of course I would. I assure Deputies that supporting carers will be a priority for me once again in this year's budget. In the Department of Social Protection and indeed across government, there are a lot of competing demands at budget time and sometimes we cannot do everything we want to do all at once. I do think that we have made some good progress in recent years. I am determined to do more and I know the Deputies opposite and indeed across the House will support me in that.

The main income supports provided by the Department include carer's allowance, carer's benefit, domiciliary care allowance and the carer's support grant. Spending on these payments in 2023 is expected to be in the region of €1.6 billion. The carer's allowance is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers in the community. In 2023, the expenditure on the carer's allowance scheme is estimated to be in excess of €1 billion. It is worth pointing out also that 50,000 people were in receipt of carer's allowance in 2010 and that figure has almost doubled today. There are currently 92,809 people receiving the payment. The means test for carer's allowance is something was raised by a number of Deputies. Indeed, I raised it myself long before I was ever in the Department. The case that always stands out to me is the person, usually a woman, who gives up her job and career to provide full-time care to a profoundly disabled child but, because her husband worked, she was not entitled to a payment. I felt that was wrong. That is why as part of budget 2022 I was the first Minister in 14 years to make changes to the carer's allowance means test. I increased the weekly earnings disregard to €750 for a couple and €350 for a single person. The idea of increasing the disregard for a couple by slightly more was to try to help the person who gives up work but was missing out because of their partner's income. In addition, in budget 2022 I also increased the amount of savings disregarded in a carer's allowance means test from €20,000 to €50,000. Those are the highest income limits of any payment in the entire social welfare system. Would I have liked to have gone further? Yes, I would. I assure Deputies that I will consider increasing those thresholds again in budget 2024. Unfortunately, I have to be honest and the reality is that no matter where I draw the line in the means test, there will always be some people who fall the other side and who do not qualify.

The motion calls for an individualised approach to the means testing of carers' payments. It is a core feature of the social welfare system that we take account of the household income. If we were to move away from that core principle in how the means test works, we would probably be looking at a payment outside of the social welfare system that would probably be more appropriate to the Department of Health. As the Minister for Social Protection, I cannot pay the carer for the work they do. If they are to be paid for their work, that will have to be considered by the Department of Health. I have asked the joint Oireachtas committees to explore that and have a discussion on it.

As Minister, I worked to make significant improvements to payments for carers as part of budget 2023. Some of the positive measures we introduced in the budget include a €12 increase in the weekly carer's allowance and carer's benefit payments, the largest increase to the weekly carer's payment for 14 or 15 years. The half-rate carer's allowance is now disregarded in the means assessment for fuel allowance. I increased domiciliary care allowance to €330 per month, the first time that payment has been increased since 2009. In addition, domiciliary care allowance is now available in respect of children with severe illness or disability who remain in hospital for up to six months after birth. The last change impacts a small group of people, but for the families concerned it means a great deal. Sometimes the big ticket items get all the attention in social protection but I have found there are small changes we can make that make a big difference and have a lasting impact.

In terms of our response to the cost of living, I have worked to ensure that carers have been prioritised. To date, we have provided a double payment for carers in October 2022, a special €500 payment for people receiving the carer's support grant paid in November 2022, and the Christmas bonus double payment. A further €200 payment for carers will be paid in April. I should also add that in my very first budget in the Department, I increased the carer's support grant to €1,850, the highest ever level, and that payment will be made to all carers in June.

I acknowledge the important role that family carers play in society and I have committed to provide a pension for carers. I announced a series of landmark reforms to the State pension system in September. From a personal point of view, one of the most important reforms agreed by Government is enhanced State pension provision for people who have been caring for more than 20 years. We will do this by attributing paid contributions to long-term carers to cover gaps in their social insurance contribution record and by establishing a register of family carers for this purpose. My officials are currently working to implement these reforms, including the drafting of legislation and the development of administrative and IT systems so that we can have the pension for carers in place by January 2024.

I again thank the Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. I genuinely have tried to do my very best to help our carers since I came into the Department two and a half years ago. In fairness. we have made progress. I know the Deputies opposite also raised the issue of the challenges faced by young carers. I agree that they should be supported to have a life outside of their caring role. The national carers' strategy commits to supporting children and young people with caring responsibilities. My Department has supported projects to help young carers through the Dormant Accounts Fund.

In my first budget I increased the carer's support grant to its highest ever level. In my second budget I was the first Minister in 14 years to make changes and improvements to the means test. In this year's budget, we had the largest increase to the weekly carer's payment for approximately 15 years. I have provided combined lump sum payments of more than €1,000 to support carers with the cost of living. As I have outlined, the priority for me now is to make sure our long-term carers have access to a pension. We have to do more and I do accept that. We are not opposing this motion. I look forward to hearing Deputies' contributions. I will take on board the points raised and, as I said earlier, I assure Deputies that supporting our carers will be a priority for me in budget 2024.

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