Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the number of persons in the State in receipt of home help hours and are also cared for by persons who are in receipt of carer's benefit; if he or his Department officials have ever discussed with the health Service Executive and the Department of Social Protection the reason any person cared for by a person receiving carer's benefit and the respite care grant should require home help hours also; his views on whether the impact nationally of recent cuts in home help hours would be lessened if the practice of granting home help hours to persons being cared for by recipients of carer's benefit was abolished [1712/13]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit fall within the remit of the Department of Social Protection, and are paid to people who are caring for a person who needs full-time care and attention. They are intended as an income support for the carer and not to supplement the cost of care. In many cases the care recipient will be in receipt of an income support payment in their own right, for example disability allowance or State pension. The fact that a carer is in receipt of carer’s allowance or carer’s benefit does not preclude them from receiving home help or other supports from the HSE.

A person who is caring for someone on a full-time basis with a serious illness or severe mental or physical disability may have a genuine need for support by way of a home help. Officials in my Department have regular consultation with their colleagues in the Department of Social Protection on matters of concern for carers and the full range of supports for carers from the two Departments.