Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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83. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans for the future of the respite care grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33448/14]

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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118. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will give consideration to restoring the respite care grant from €1,300 to €1,700 as part of the Budgetary process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34033/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 118 together.

The Respite Care Grant (RCG) is an annual payment of €1,375 for carers who look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention. The payment is made regardless of the carer's means but is subject to certain conditions, one of which is that the period of full-time care and attention must last for at least six months (which must include the first Thursday in June when the payment is made automatically to recipients of carer’s allowance/benefit and domiciliary care allowance). I have no plans to make any changes in this regard.

The estimated cost in 2015 of increasing the respite care grant by €325, from €1,375 to €1,700, is €29.3 million in a full year. Any change in the rate of Respite Care Grant can only be considered in the context of overall Budgetary requirements.

The payment of the RCG for 2014 commenced in June, with automatic payments issuing to over 70,000 DSP clients at an estimated cost of €122 million for the full year in 2014. There is no conditionality attached to how the RCG is utilised, so carers can use the grant as they wish.

I should also mention that the RCG, with no requirement to satisfy a means test, is not available for any other social welfare group nor indeed is there an equivalent payment for carers in any other country in Europe.

Expenditure on income supports for carers generally has increased from €773m in 2012 to an estimated €806m in 2014. The number of people in receipt of carer’s allowance over the past decade has also increased from 23,000 to over 57,000