Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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514. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will commit to a review of the income disregard in the means test for both the carer's allowance and the disability allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24697/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In 2022 spending on Illness, Disability and Carers will be an estimated €4.9 billion. This represents 21.1% of my Department’s total expenditure for the year. Since 2015 there has been a significant increase in the number of people supported under these schemes:-

- The number of people claiming Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit has increased by 42% and the cost of the schemes has increased by 52%.

- The number of people claiming Disability Allowance has increased by 28% and the cost of the scheme has increased by 41%.

As of March there were 90,859 recipients of Carer's Allowance and the estimated expenditure on Carer's Allowance in 2022 is approximately €990 million.

As of March there were 155,542 recipients of Disability Allowance and the estimated expenditure on Disability Allowance in 2022 is almost €1.9 billion.

Both the Carer’s Allowance and Disability Allowance payments are 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 unemployment, disability or caring. This ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted to those who need them most.

Since my appointment as Minister for Social Protection, supporting carers and people with disabilities has been a key priority for me. In this context I have already reviewed and analysed the disregards in relation to both schemes.

In this year’s Budget, I made significant changes to the Carer’s Allowance means test.

- The capital/savings disregard for the Carer’s Allowance means assessment is being increased from €20,000 to €50,000, aligning it with that which applies for Disability Allowance.

- For carers who work, I have increased the weekly income disregard from €332.50 to €350 for a single person, and from €665 to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner.

These are the first changes that have been made to the Carer’s Allowance means test in 14 years.

With regard to the Disability Allowance disregard the following changes have been made

- An increase to the general weekly means disregard entry point for Disability Allowance from €2.50 to €7.60. The effect of this measure will be to increase the weekly rate of payment by up to €5.10 per week for Disability Allowance recipients who have means.

- An increase in the earnings threshold above which means is fully assessed - by €25 from €350 to €375 per week for Disability Allowance.

This builds on the Budget 2021 measure where I increased the disregard from €120 to €140. Prior to this there had been no changes to the Disability Allowance disregard since 2006.

I will continue to keep the range of supports available to carers and people with disabilities under review. However, any improvements or additions to these supports can only be considered in an overall budgetary context and in the light of available financial resources.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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515. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the application of Catherine's Law for a person (details supplied) who has been stripped of the disability allowance due to a Ph.D scholarship; the measures that will be put in place to prevent this situation in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24699/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned was disallowed Disability Allowance from 26 September 2018, as their means were higher than the statutory limit. Upon request, a Departmental review was undertaken in October 2018 and the decision was upheld. The person in question appealed the decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO). The appeal was disallowed by an Appeals Officer on 27 February 2019.

Further representations were received by the SWAO and in July 2019, the Appeals Officer reviewed all of the evidence on file in light of the correspondence received and was satisfied that a revision of the decision was not warranted. Accordingly, the original decision of 27 February 2019 was upheld and the customer was made aware of the decision in August 2019.

Regulations signed which exclude scholarship stipends for PhD students from the Disability Allowance means test, came into effect from 1^stSeptember 2020 which will serve to ensure that this issue will not arise in respect of future applications.

Customers that were disallowed Disability Allowance due to the stipend payment prior to 1^stSeptember 2020 may complete a new application form and it will be processed in the normal manner. The person concerned has been in touch with the Department and a Disability Allowance application form has been posted to their home address.

A completed application form for DA must be submitted to the Department in order to have eligibility checked and a formal decision made on entitlement.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.