Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she is satisfied regarding the availability of adequate resources to ensure sufficient funding for carer's in the current and forthcoming year having particular regard to the desirability of maintaining those in need of care in their own environment rather than reliance on institutional care; if she is satisfied that all applicants for carer's allowance have their cases processed expeditiously; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44548/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There are almost 52,000 people in receipt of carer’s allowance from my Department at an annual cost of over €500 million. Of these, over 22,000 are getting half rate carer’s allowance in addition to another social welfare payment at an annual cost of some €90 million. The carer’s allowance scheme is based on demand and not on a fixed budget and therefore, I am satisfied that all claimants who are eligible and fulfil the scheme criteria will be awarded the allowance.

The means test for carer’s allowance is one of the most generous means tests in the social welfare system. The income disregard is €332.50 per week for a single person and €665 per week for a couple. A couple with two children can earn up to €35,400 and qualify for the maximum rate of carer’s allowance, as well as the household benefits package and free travel while a couple earning €59,300 will still qualify for the minimum rate of carer’s allowance, as well as the household benefits and free travel. In Budget 2012, the basic rate of carer’s allowance and the respite care grant were not reduced.

The Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. In the case of carer’s allowance, a high level of documentary evidence is required from the customer which can take longer to process. Similarly, because it is a means-tested payments, some cases can require more detailed investigation thereby lengthening the decision making process.

However, I am confident that the Department is taking appropriate action to improve processing times. The carer’s allowance section has recently completed a major service delivery modernisation project to improve the efficiency with which it processes applications from clients for carer’s allowance. A noted improvement was achieved in September with claims processing substantially exceeding claim intake. While, it will take a number of months before the backlog is reduced to a fully acceptable level, the allocation of available resources to this task will remain under review.

With regard to welfare expenditure for next year, no decisions have been made at this stage. In the current economic climate every scheme in my Department must be kept under review. As part of the deliberative process for the next Budget, my Department will analyse, in so far as possible, the distributive and poverty impact of possible social welfare changes. These impacts will be taken into account in arriving at the final decisions on the Budget.