Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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250. To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of increasing the home carer's allowance for all families with children between six months and three years of age by €960 per annum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27276/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I assume the Deputy is referring to the Home Carer Tax Credit. I am advised by Revenue that in 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, the maximum amount of home carer tax credit available was €810 and the overall cost to the Exchequer for this credit was an estimated €60.9 million, in respect of 80,900 recipients. The Deputy will be aware that the home carer tax credit was increased to €1,000 in Budget 2016, and was further increased to €1,100 in Budget 2017.

As it is not possible to separately identify from Revenue records those who would benefit under the changes suggested by the Deputy (or to assess whether they would be in a position to absorb at least some of the additional credit), there is no basis on which to provide an estimated cost to the Exchequer of the Deputy’s proposal.

However, a Post-Budget 2017 Ready Reckoner is available on the Revenue website at . This Ready Reckoner shows a wide range of detailed information, including, on Page 6, the estimated cost to the Exchequer of changes to the home carer tax credit for all those currently availing of it.