Results 1-11 of 11 for carers segment:8873802
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
..., significant changes were introduced to means eligibility rules for fuel allowance, which have resulted in over 35,000 additional households joining the scheme so far. In 2022, there was a significant increase in the income and capital disregards for carer's allowance. This enables more carers with modest incomes to become eligible for the scheme and allows carers and their families to...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Paul Donnelly: ..., if somebody is €50 or €100 over the limit, could we make it that they not automatically excluded from it? I think, in particular, of adult dependents or somebody who is working while being a carer. I listened to one on the radio this morning who had been entitled to €9 and when this was reassessed it became €18. That is a full-time carer. That was based on...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
...measures that have been introduced in previous years, and what the Minister has done, is to increase key aspects of certain means tests to make them more attractive, whether that is for farm assist or the carer's allowance or to encourage people to go back to education. These are all positive, progressive steps in terms of how the Department treats means but it is all done within an...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...probably not strictly speaking a means test issue. The Minister is not here and Mr. Egan cannot commit on her behalf, but my main request is to have a meeting on this with the Minister. Kinship carers are entitled to the guardian's payment, non-contributory, on the basis that there is parental abandonment. The problem is that it is very strictly defined and that, operationally,...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Éamon Ó Cuív: ...as to how they organise their lives. Generally-speaking, the Department does not count the first €20,000 of income and it ignores the first €50,000 of income for the disability allowance and carer's allowance. After that, for the next €10,000, it assess it at €1 per €1,000 per week, which is equivalent interest of 5%. The next €10,000 is...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...adults is of particular importance. I wish to raise a more detailed issue relating to maintenance. While I welcome that this has been dealt with in legislation, the means testing of kinship carers is still an issue. To be fair to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, she came back to me looking for examples of the issue. Kinship carers often have to foster children, usually relatives,...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Mark Wall: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and welcome our guests. Much of this has been covered by Deputy Ó Cuív but there are a couple of issues to pick up on. Carer's allowance is something I regularly deal with, as do other members, I am sure. Notwithstanding the new means test that will come into effect in June, I still hear from a lot of people who are getting very little in...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Mr. Niall Egan: On the carer's allowance, it will be considered as part of our means review. It is also being considered as part of an interdepartmental group the Minister has announced, with colleagues from the Department of Health, to look at carer's allowance. It will be covered by both reviews. I hear the Senator's point about having no means test for the carer's allowance but,...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: ...to be as quick as I can, although I am not sure how quick. There are actually four issues, but two are just for the record. One is to state my agreement with Senator Wall and Deputy Ó Cuív. Carers are probably among the most important people in the context of the means test. I am glad that is being reviewed. I am not totally sure how the two reviews relate to one other or...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Mr. Niall Egan: I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge the two points he raised in terms of the carer's allowance and child maintenance. The means test is a policy lever that is available to the Department. The rent-a-room scheme is an obvious example, as we have articulated. Consistently and for a considerable period of time, most of our schemes have had earnings disregard for employment....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Implications of Means Testing: Department of Social Protection (20 Mar 2024)
Éamon Ó Cuív: The issue of carers needs to be considered in its own right. The means test is a huge issue. There are calls to abolish it and I understand the rationale behind the calls. However, I can hear the alarms bells ringing in Government Buildings and in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. In a situation like this, the income thresholds need to be increased. The...