Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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506. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to commence the restoration of the carer’s allowance income disregard to ensure those on the average industrial income can qualify; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28236/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The main income supports for carers provided by my Department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. The estimated expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2020 is approximately €916 million. Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2020 is expected to exceed €1.3 billion.

Carer's Allowance is a means tested payment made to people whose income falls below certain limits, and who are looking after certain people in need of full-time care and attention.

This allowance is part of the system of social assistance supports that provide payments based on an income need. The means test plays a critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency – such as disability, unemployment or caring. This ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted to those who need them most.

Current disregards for Carer’s Allowance are €332.50 per week for a single person and €665 per week for a couple, making the means test for carers the least onerous within the social protection system.

In the case of a couple, a carer may retain a full-rate payment of €219.00 per week while having an annual income of €37,500 from employment, retain a payment of (just under half-rate) €109.00 per week while having an annual income from employment of €49,750, and retain the minimum payment of €4 per week while having an annual income of €61,000.

In the case of a single carer a similar scenario illustrates that a carer may retain a full-rate payment of €219.00 while having an annual income of just under €19,000, retain a payment of €109.00 per week (just under half-rate) while having an annual income of €25,400, or retain the minimum payment of €4 per week while having an annual income of €31,100.

The Department has made an estimate of the cost of increasing the weekly income disregards for Carer’s Allowance to €450 for a single person and to €900 for a couple using the ESRI SWITCH model. This analysis suggests that it would cost in the region of an additional €73 million per annum with net expenditure estimated in the order of €55 million per annum.

Changes to schemes are considered in an overall budgetary and policy context and from an evidence based perspective. Some 92% of the current recipients of Carer’s Allowance have no means or means of less than €7.60 per week and would not benefit by an increase in the disregard.

My Department also offers other, non-means-tested, supports to carers. The Carer’s Support Grant is not mean-tested and is available to all carers who meet the eligibility criteria. The payment is not dependent on a person receiving a weekly carer’s payment. This non-taxable grant of €1,700 is payable annually in June.

I can assure the Deputy that I am very much aware of the key role that family carers play in our society and I will continue to keep the range of supports available to carers under review. Any changes to scheme criteria, however, would have implications for overall spending and would need to be addressed in an overall budgetary context.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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507. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the costs associated with caring can be deducted from reckonable income for carer’s allowance applicants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28237/20]

Heather 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.

Carer's Allowance is a means-tested payment for carers who, on a full-time basis, look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention, where the carer's income falls below certain limits. At the end of August 2020, there were 87,733 people in receipt of Carer's Allowance. The estimated expenditure in 2020 is approximately €916 million.

The means test conditionality for Carer's Allowance is consistent with the overall rules that apply to social assistance payments. The system of social assistance supports provides payments based on an income need, with the means test playing the critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency - be that illness, disability, unemployment or caring. The application of a means-test not only ensures that the recipient has an income need but also that scarce resources are targeted to those with the greatest need.

The deduction of further expenses from reckonable income in the means test for Carer's Allowance would effectively increase the current income disregards applied. It should be noted that the means test for Carer's Allowance is the most generous in the social welfare system, especially with regard to earnings disregards. In the case of a single person, €332.50 of gross weekly income is not taken into account (i.e. is disregarded). In the case of a person who is married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting, the first €665 of combined gross weekly income is disregarded. PRSI, travel costs, superannuation and union contributions from the weekly income from employment are deducted before the disregard is applied. This is in line with most social assistance payments. For a couple, the combined gross weekly balance is then halved to give the carer's weekly means.

A couple earning up to €37,500 per year can qualify for the maximum rate while a couple earning €49,750 can, due to the tapered withdrawal approach, retain a payment of just under half-rate. A single person may keep a full-rate payment while having an annual income of just under €19,000, and keep a payment of just under half-rate while having an annual income of €25,400.

The exclusion of other costs, as suggested by the Deputy, in the calculation of income could have significant budgetary implications and would give rise to inconsistencies in how means tests are applied across schemes. It would also significantly increase the complexity of the means assessment process.

Any changes to the means conditions for any of the schemes operated by the Department, including the Carer's Allowance, would need to be addressed in a budgetary context.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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508. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to increase the disregard allowable in the capital formula for carer’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28238/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Department operates a range of means-tested social assistance payments. Social welfare legislation provides that the means test takes account of the income and assets of the person (and spouse/partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme. Income and assets include income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions, maintenance payments as well as property owned (other than the family home) and capital such as savings, shares and other investments.

The assessment of capital reflects the fact that there is an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of capital and property are in a position to use that capital, or to realise the value of property, to support themselves without having to rely solely on a means-tested welfare payment.

In this regard, for Carer's Allowance, the first €20,000 of capital is fully disregarded; the next €10,000 assessed at €1 per thousand, the next €10,000 is assessed at €2 per thousand, with the remainder assessed at €4 per thousand.

In relation to Carer's Allowance, as the first €332.50 of gross weekly income for single people and the first €665 for couples is fully disregarded, and combined with a general disregard of €7.60 per week, 92% of the approximately 87,000 Carer's Allowance recipients have no means assessed.

Any proposals to change the capital means assessment for means-tested social assistance schemes would have to be considered in the overall budgetary context.