Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. In coming back in response, it is important for me to state that I too have been involved in trying to work out support for people who reside at home. The challenge is that people are living longer and life expectancy in Ireland has increased by six years over the past 20 years and, therefore, we have a lot more people living longer. For example, the figure for those aged over 75 has increased from 220,381 in 2011 to more than 335,000 in 2023, which is more than a 50% increase in a very short timeframe, and that will continue.

In her opening speech earlier, the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Rabbitte, outlined some of the policies, supports and initiatives in her Department that do and will benefit those who care for a loved one. I will outline some of the other supports provided both through the Department of Health and the Department of Social Protection. We are delivering on the commitment in the programme for Government to introduce a carer's guarantee that will provide a core basket of services to support family carers across the country regardless of where they live.

Since 2021, we have invested €2 million per annum in these services. The bulk of the funding of €1.9 million is being provided to Family Carers Ireland to deliver a mix of community and individual supports to a minimum of 5,000 new carers annually. There is an investment of approximately €62 million in funding provided for respite in older people’s services per annum. Respite may be provided in the community within the person’s own home, in HSE residential care settings, by agreement with voluntary organisations or by contracted private facilities. In June 2021, the HSE, in partnership with Family Carers Ireland, launched the home support emergency respite scheme, with funding of €600,000 to provide a total of 27,000 hours of respite care to family carers who require additional emergency respite. The HSE continues to provide emergency respite supports in 2024.

Since September 2018, individuals in receipt of either a full or half-rate carer's allowance or carer's benefit are automatically eligible for a GP visit card. This measure was introduced at that time to enable approximately 14,000 people who were in receipt of carer’s allowance or carer’s benefit and who had not qualified for a medical card or GP visit card on means or age grounds to be eligible for GP services without fees. On foot of this measure, as of 1 April 2024, 7,279 persons in receipt of either full or half-rate carer's allowance or carer's benefit have GP visit card eligibility. It should be noted that many carers may have already held a medical card or GP visit card prior to this welcome change. A range of other measures has been introduced in recent years to expand access to GP care, including the automatic awarding of a GP visit card to all persons over 70 in 2015 and a 10% increase to the income thresholds for a GP visit card in 2019.

The Government has invested an additional €235 million in home support services for older people since budget 2020. In 2024, we expect to deliver 22.1 million home support hours, an increase of 4.2 million hours over 2020. This is more than has ever been delivered before. There are now more than 57,000 people receiving home support services. In 2023, the Government allocated €2.1 million to allow dementia day care centres to reopen to full capacity and, in 2024, there are 58 dementia day care centres in operation. In budget 2024, a further €500,000 was allocated to increase the provision of in-home dementia day care. An additional €2.2 million was provided for day care services in 2024, providing invaluable support for older people living at home and those who care for them.

Income supports are also a vital factor in providing assistance to carers and ensuring they do not suffer financial hardship as a result of their caring role. The Government very much values the work of our family carers and since her appointment as Minister for Social Protection, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has sought to make sure that the interests of carers and the people they care for remain a focus of her Department’s priorities. In budget 2021, in her first budget in the Department of Social Protection, the Minister increased the carer’s support grant to €1,850, its highest-ever level. On Thursday, 6 June of this year, 132,523 carers received the grant in respect of 149,361 persons at an estimated cost of €275 million. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has also delivered on the programme for Government commitment to provide a pension solution for long-term carers. From January 2024, a new long-term carers contribution scheme was introduced.

Carer’s allowance is the main scheme by which the Department of Social Protection provides income support to carers in the community. Some 96,742 people are currently supported by this payment. This year, the expenditure on the carer’s allowance scheme is estimated to be over €1.1 billion. As the Deputies are aware, carer’s allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment awarded to those who are caring for people who need full-time care and attention. While the caring requirements of those being cared for may be different, this does not affect the rate of carer’s allowance as it is intended to provide an income support for the carer and does not depend on the individual requirements of the person receiving care.

The means test ensures that support is provided to those most in need and plays a critical role in determining whether an income need arises as a consequence of caring. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has made the carer’s allowance a priority in recent budgets, with significant enhancements to the means test. As part of budget 2022, she increased the income limit for a couple from €665 to €750 and for a single person from €332.50 to €350.

In addition, the amount of savings disregarded in the carer's allowance means test was increased from €20,000 to €50,000.

As part of budget 2024, the Government has gone further again and the weekly income disregard has increased from €350 to €450 for a single person and from €750 to €900 for carers with a spouse or partner. This change was implemented from Thursday, 6 June of this year. The changes meant that carers on a reduced rate moved to a higher payment. In addition, many carers who previously did not qualify for a payment due to their means were brought into the carer's allowance system for the first time. These are the highest income disregards in the social welfare system.

This motion calls for further relaxation of the carer's allowance means test. The reality is that any further relaxation of the means test would result in people who may have higher sources of income benefiting, while reducing the scope for the Department to provide income supports to lower income households. Those carers who rely solely on the income from the carer's allowance payment would not benefit from further increases in this regard.

Deputies will be aware that the Minister for Social Protection announced the establishment of an interdepartmental working group to examine and review the means test for carers' payments. The group is chaired by officials in the Department of Social Protection and includes representation from the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the lead Departments with responsibility for the delivery of supports and services for older people and people with disabilities. This group is to review the whole process and will report back in the not-too-distant future.

Taking all of this into account, yes, we would all like for more to be delivered in this area but there are constraints in any budget, and the amount that is now being provided, as I have set out already, is more than €1.1 billion in any one year. It is a huge increase compared with the past five years, and I think that is important to take into account, together with the other benefits we have provided to carers.

We have a challenge now with the growing elderly population in this country. The figures are quite clear. By the end of 2030, we will have in excess of 1 million people over 65 years of age. Therefore, there are going to be increasing challenges and we need to plan for that. If we remove the means test completely, it means other services may lose out. It is about getting the balance. I think the Department of Social Protection has certainly provided that balance together with the Department of Health, and it is important we take these issues into account when dealing with this scheme.

See this speech in context