Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I will start by saying that I acknowledge again the huge step forward that we have made in supporting carers, with our long overdue recognition of the role they play in our economy and society by looking after those who need care. However, it is also important to ensure that when we are spending money on supporting carers the income supports are effective, are working and are not causing unintended consequences, which is the case here. While I accept the facts the Minister of State laid out regarding what the individual in this case would receive, I would point out that it does not make allowances for the fact the person is employed and the payment is made directly to the employer. That is the key difference here. It could be addressed by an amendment to the social welfare Act such that a full-time carer's allowance would still apply in such an instance because the person in this case is not receiving the maternity benefit payment and that is being paid to her employer to absorb the cost of the wage. In this case, she works for 18.5 hours per week and the additional payment of the carer's support allowance is part of her usual or normal income alongside her salary for 18.5 hours. The maternity benefit is deducted from the salary for 18.5 hours per week which means that the maternity benefit is not payable to the individual in question. There needs to be a recognition of situations where a person is working the permitted 18.5 hours per week and is already receiving the full rate of carer's allowance. That should carry over to the maternity benefit because in such an instance, the maternity benefit would not be paid directly. It is really important given that we are constantly trying to encourage women to have full participation in the workforce and that they are not penalised for leaving the workforce when they have children. Little, unintended consequences like this in our social welfare system should be addressed. I ask the Minister of State to raise this with the Minister for Social Protection to see if something can be done to address it in the social welfare Bill.

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