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

I absolutely recognise and value the work of our carers. My Department will spend in excess of €1.7 billion this year on support payments to carers. Carers have been a key priority for me as Minister for Social Protection. I acknowledge the support I have had from Family Carers Ireland to make changes such as the new pension contributions for long-term carers from the start of January. There is a strong interest in that. As I outlined in my initial reply, there are already a large number of carers, mainly women, who are qualifying for a pension because of the changes we have made. That number will continue to grow now that we have the scheme in place. In recent budgets, I have supported the carers in a number of different ways. They will be a priority for me as I approach this budget as well.

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