Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 186: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will consider eliminating the anomaly whereby a person giving full-time care to an invalid is means tested on all of an income from an English pension of approximately €100 per week when in the normal course of events there is an exemption income of €270 per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18540/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people who are providing certain elderly or incapacitated persons with full time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a certain limit.

As with other social assistance schemes, a means test is applied to the carer's allowance to ensure that limited resources are directed to those in greatest need. The income of both the applicant and his or her spouse or partner is assessable as means in determining entitlement.

Under existing legislation, social security payments made by other jurisdictions are not disregarded when determining means for carer's allowance purposes. This measure ensures equality between recipients of Irish social welfare payments and applicants who receive a foreign welfare payment. It also upholds the general rule that only one weekly social welfare payment is payable to an individual. I have undertaken to keep all schemes that involve supports and benefits to carers under review and to examine ways of increasing and expanding services. In that context, the query raised by the Deputy will be included.