Written answers

Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Photo of Thomas GouldThomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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48. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to acknowledge the burden of care undertaken by full-time carers throughout the pandemic and on an ongoing basis in view of the continued closure of many supports such as daycare centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25019/20]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government acknowledges the important role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy.

My Department provides income supports to carers such as Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Combined spending on all these payments to family carers in 2020 is expected to exceed €1.3 billion.

The provision of supports such as respite care and home help are the responsibility of the Department of Health and the HSE.

In responding to the current COVID-19 crisis, the Department has made urgent special provisions for those, including carers, who may be most vulnerable and negatively affected at this time - those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, have been medically certified to self-isolate and those who have lost their jobs and whose incomes have reduced as a result of the pandemic.

To ensure that the most vulnerable groups are provided for, my Department introduced the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and COVID-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit. Both of these measures allow payments to be made with certain other social welfare payments including Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit. In effect, a carer whose situation qualifies them for one of these payments will get that payment along with their current carer income support payment - whether Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit.

Notwithstanding the substantial extra financial demands due to the COVID-19 crisis, I confirmed, on 4 June, that the Carer’s Support Grant would continue to be paid to carers this year at an estimated cost of over €237 million. The annual grant of €1,700 is made to carers providing full-time care to an older person or a person with a disability regardless of their means or social insurance contributions and is not taxable.

The objective of the Carer’s Support Grant is to support carers in their caring role and carers may use the grant in a manner that is appropriate to their needs. The grant is paid in respect of each person being cared for to take account of the additional cost of providing care and to recognise the particular challenges faced by these carers.

At the end of June 2020, over 127,000 grants were paid to carers receiving the Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance and to other full-time carers who are not receiving any of these payments. It is expected that further applications will be received before the closing date. Applications for the 2020 grant can be submitted up until 31 December 2021.

The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme provides a "safety net" within the overall social welfare system and provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. SWA provides immediate and flexible assistance for those in need who do not qualify for payment under other schemes.

I am very conscious of the challenges facing our family carers at this time and I will continue to keep the range of supports provided by my Department under review to ensure that the overall objectives of the carer income supports are met. However, any changes to the current carer income supports provided by this Department would have implications for overall spending and would need to be addressed in an overall budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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