Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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570. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to an anomaly whereby carers applying for the scheme are means assessed in addition to a medical assessment conducted on the person they are caring for and that if the household earns up to €35,000 they do not qualify even though there is a medical need; the way in which she has considered to manage the registration of carers that are unsuccessful in the means test aspect when confirming they are registered carers for the purposes of the general practitioner card scheme for carers that is due to be rolled out in autumn 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31610/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government acknowledges the crucial role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for a Partnership Government and the National Carers’ Strategy.

Carer's allowance (CA) is a means tested payment, made to people who are providing full-time care and attention to elderly people or to people with disabilities and whose income falls below certain limits. The principal conditions for receipt of the allowance are that full time care and attention is required and being provided and that the means test which applies is satisfied.

The means test is already one of the most generous in the social protection system in that €332.50 of gross weekly income is disregarded in the calculation of means for a single person; the equivalent for someone who is married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting is €665 of combined gross weekly income. A married couple with 2 children could have weekly earnings of €734 net of PRSI, superannuation and union subscription costs and still qualify for the full rate of Carer's Allowance. This is equivalent to over €38,000 per annum.

Furthermore, considerable improvements have been introduced for carers in recent years. In Budget 2016, the carer’s support grant – which is payable without a means test - was increased to €1,700 and the period when CA can be paid following the death of a care recipient was extended from 6 to 12 weeks. In addition to the Christmas Bonus and the €5 increase in the weekly rate, Budget 2017 introduced a measure that extends payment of CA for 12 weeks where the care recipient enters permanent residential care.

Carers who pass the assessment for the Carers Allowance scheme will, under the terms of the legislation currently before the Oireachtas, be granted automatic eligibility for a GP visit card. The option is available to those persons who are not deemed to have met the criteria for the Carers Allowance scheme to apply for a Medical card or GP visit card under the standard assessment process operated by the HSE.

I hope this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.