Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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460. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a retired garda can apply for carer’s benefit; if such a person would qualify for the half-rate carer’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54041/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's Benefit is a PRSI based payment made to insured people who leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a child or an adult in need of full-time care and attention.

Before a decision can be made on entitlement to Carer’s Benefit, evidence must be provided in respect of the care recipient’s care requirement, the level of care the carer provides, the carer’s hours of employment and their PRSI record.

Under the provisions of the legislation a person claiming Carer's Benefit must be in remunerative full time employment (for a minimum of 16 hours in the week or 32 hours in the fortnight) for eight weeks out of the previous 26 week period immediately prior to the first day on which a claim is made.

PRSI conditions paid in classes A, B, C, D, E and H are counted towards Carer's Benefit. Contributions paid at class S (self-employed contributions) do not count.

To qualify the carer must have the following:

- 39 reckonable contributions in the relevant tax year (2019 for a claim made in 2021) or

- 39 reckonable contributions paid in the 12-month period before the start of Carer's Benefit or

- 26 reckonable contributions paid in the Relevant Tax Year and 26 contributions paid in the year before that.

Carer’s Benefit is payable for a maximum period of 104 weeks for each person being cared for. It can be taken in one block or in separate periods as long as the combined total does not exceed 104 weeks. The current weekly rate is €220.00 (increasing to €225 in January 2022). Where a person is caring for two or more care recipients, the rate of payment is increased by 50%.

Carer's Allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has such a disability that they require that level of care. Half-rate Carer’s Allowance may be paid alongside certain other social welfare payments if the applicant is providing full time care and attention to another person while also meeting all the other conditions for Carer’s Allowance, including the means test. However, half-rate Carer’s Allowance is not payable with Carer’s Benefit.

It is open to anyone to complete and return an application form (CARB1) for Carer’s Benefit and (CR1) for Carer’s Allowance to the Social Welfare Services Office, Ballinalee Road, Longford, to have a formal decision made on any entitlement they may have.

I trust this clarifies the matter.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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461. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the wage subsidy scheme for persons with disabilities will be extended to national schools to allow a participant to work as a special needs assistant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54068/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The objective of the Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) is to encourage private sector employers to employ people with disabilities and thereby increase the numbers of people with disabilities obtaining and sustaining employment in the open labour market.

The scheme provides financial incentives to private sector employers to hire new staff with a disability for between 21 and 39 subsidised hours per week under a contract of employment. The contract of employment offered must be for a minimum of 6 months and the employee should be subject to and have the same rights as per the conditions of employment as any of the other employees. Included in these conditions is the requirement that the employee must be paid the going rate for the job which must be at least the statutory minimum wage. The basic rate of subsidy is currently €5.30 per hour (increasing to €6.30 from January 2022) giving a total annual subsidy available of €10,748 per annum based on a 39-hour week. The subsidy is paid directly to the employer.

The WSS is not available to Public Service Employers or any employers or schemes where salaries are funded by the State. I have no plans to extend the scheme to national schools or any other such bodies where significant State funding is already in place.

The Government has committed to increasing the target of people with disabilities employed in the public sector to 6% by 2024, and public sector employers are expected to show leadership in recruitment in this area, without the need for subsidies.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.