Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

198. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of restoring the respite grant to its highest historical level. [27809/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Carer’s Support Grant (formerly called the Respite Care Grant) is an annual payment for carers who look after people in need of full-time care and attention.

The grant is paid in a single annual lump sum, usually on the first Thursday in June.  The grant is not means-tested and is not taxable.  It is paid in respect of each care recipient. 

It is paid: 

- automatically to people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit and Domiciliary Care Allowance; and

- to others who are not in receipt of a social welfare payment but who are providing full time care and attention.

The Carer's Support Grant is currently paid at a rate of €1,700 per year, which is the highest rate at which it has been paid since it was first introduced in 1999.