Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Dempsey for raising this case. In many ways, it reminds us of why we need to abolish the means test. We are all hearing too many stories of carers not qualifying because of the income of the people they are married to or in a relationship with. As the Deputy said, there are also cases where people finally get the allowance and then find that if their spouse or partner does a few hours of extra work or gets a promotion, which are good things that happen in family life, they lose out.. These are kinds of traps and anomalies. I do hope, without knowing the particulars of that person's situation, the budget might have helped. It is one of the reasons why we have significantly increased the income disregard for single people and couples in this budget. We want to build on that in the years ahead to deliver on the programme for Government commitment to abolish the means test. In the interim, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Calleary, to reflect on the point the Deputy made regarding the reviews.

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