Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this timely motion and signal the Labour Party's absolute support for it. It is widely acknowledged that the budgetary measures that were put in place in the most recent budget signalled a real intention by the Minister and the Government to pour money and resources into increasing the line payments. We acknowledge the €500 cost-of-living payment for people who were receiving the carer's support grant which was paid in November. We also acknowledge that carers received a Christmas double bonus payment in December and that there was a €12 increase in the maximum rate of carer's allowance and carer's benefit which took effect from January 2023. There was a €2 increase for a qualified child, bringing the rates to €50 for those aged over 12 and €42 for those aged under 12. The half-rate carer's allowance is now disregarded in the means test for fuel allowance, as of January 2023. The domiciliary care allowance increased by €20.50 to €330 per month from January 2023 and the allowance is now available in respect of children with severe illnesses or disabilities who remain in hospital for up to six months after birth.

Let us be honest and acknowledge this. I respectfully suggest to the Minister that many of those increases will have been more than wiped out by the present cost-of-living increases and the inflationary effect. Some of those increases are not keeping up with the rate of inflation and I respectfully suggest they be reviewed.

This is my third time raising this matter. While it is a very specific case, it is typical of many cases throughout the country. If somebody is in receipt of carer's allowance or the half-rate carer's payment and his or her spouse or partner is given the opportunity to avail of overtime - the Minister is nodding in assent because she will have heard me speak about this before - it will put the family's income over the threshold. I am speaking specifically on behalf of a family I am advocating for, but I know they are reflective of hundreds of other families throughout the country. In this instance, a mother is caring for a son who has an intellectual disability and is going into adulthood. All the supports she received are now gone because her spouse or partner was able to avail of overtime. She lost all the supports she was receiving by dint of the increase in income of her spouse. It is that category of persons I am speaking about today.

The Minister has said she is committed to carrying out a broad review of means testing this year, which will include means-test provisions for carer's allowance. Could scenarios like that be looked at, especially in cases of families where a son or a daughter has an intellectual disability, so that some provision or exception could be made for people in that category? That should not take away from the universality of the payments and exceptions should not be unnecessarily created. However, there should be some recognition of the fact that, in this instance, the woman, who is a spouse and a mother, could have had a career in her own right but made a choice to remain at home to care for her son. It may be a son or daughter and it affects any number of families throughout the country. I speak specifically about that category of people today. The motion before the House quite rightly looks for an increase in the income disregard. I know that if there were to be an increase in the income disregard, that family would sneak under the chicken wire, as it were, and eligibility for the supports would apply to the primary carer in this instance. So much is lost when the income of a household increases. So much is lost that is accrued to the carer. That is who we are talking about here.

I appreciate the Minister will say that in 2023, €1.6 billion will be spent on carer's allowance, carer's benefit, domiciliary care allowance and the carer's support grant. We fully acknowledge that. The fiscal package in the most recent budget was in the order of €11 billion, however. I am putting my hand up to make a case for having a specific category of carer included in the review the Minister has said she will carry out. Cases like that, particularly where there is an intellectual disability involved, should be looked at. The cost-of-living increases can be measured and we know what the inflationary effect is. It is arguable, therefore, that there will be scope for further increases within that envelope in the next budget. I say this because politically the next budget will arguably be a give-away budget. The Minister questioned the sustainability of some of the giveaways and once-off payments that were made, and whether it would have been a better approach to bake in more sustainable, long-term payments for people such as carers who give so much to society. We do not need to rehearse how valuable carers are to society. We know that inherently. We meet them day in, day out.

I also echo the views expressed on the lack of availability of home care packages or where people are being cared for in the home. People will argue that there is a recruitment crisis but I am now seeing the complete privatisation of that service, whereas once upon a time, the State provided it through the HSE. I am old enough to remember the Southern Health Board, SHB, which had an excellent service for those caring for people in the home. We should not throw the baby out with the bath water on that point. We need to revisit that in terms of the recruitment crisis around caring for people within their homes. The motion addresses that.

I make one final call for the income disregard for carer's allowance to be reviewed because that would assist many families. Is there scope in the budgetary process to do that coming into the autumn, when the Minister and her colleagues will be speaking about it with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Programme Delivery and Reform? Given the context in which the Minister has committed to carrying out a broader review of the means testing, it would be so meaningful for so many people if that could be looked at.

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