Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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276. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will raise the income threshold for carers (details supplied). [27044/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a range of income supports for full-time carers including Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant.  Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2022 is estimated to exceed €1.5 billion.  

Carer's Allowance acts as an income support for those who cannot earn an adequate income in the open labour market due to their caring responsibilities.  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. 

Means are any income belonging to the carer and their spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant and includes earnings, property, (except their own home) or an asset that could bring in money or provide them with an income, for example occupational pensions, or pensions or benefits from another country.  Where an applicant has a second property (other than their own home), the capital value of the property, less any outstanding mortgage, will be assessed as part of the means test. 

The current income disregard and means test for Carer’s Allowance is the most generous within the social welfare system.  The amount of weekly earnings disregarded is €332.50 for a single person and €665 for a couple. 

Since my appointment as Minister for Social Protection, supporting carers has been a key priority for me. In this context I have already reviewed and analysed the disregards in relation to Carer’s Allowance.

In this year’s Budget, I made significant changes to the Carer’s Allowance means test which will take effect in June:

- 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. 

A more generous means assessment for Carer’s Allowance has been called for over successive Budgets by organisations representing carers.  An increase in the general weekly income disregard will enable more carers with modest incomes to become eligible for Carer’s Allowance, and therefore provide an income support to carers, whose earning capacity is significantly constrained as a consequence of their caring responsibilities.

Increasing the capital disregard will allow carers who have accumulated relatively modest savings, often to provide sufficient moneys to care for a loved one, to retain these savings without it impacting upon their carer’s payment.  It also brings the capital formula applied to savings in the means assessment for Carer’s Allowance in line with Disability Allowance.

In addition, the annual Carer’s Support Grant is available to all family carers providing full time care and assistance regardless of means.  As part of Budget 2021, I increased the Grant from its then current rate of €1,700 to €1,850, effective from June 2021.  The estimated expenditure on the Carer’s Support Grant this year is €262.4 million.

I can assure the Deputy that I am keenly aware of the key role that family carers play in Irish society and the challenges they face.  I will continue to keep the range of income supports provided to family carers under review.  However, any improvements or additions to the current supports provided by my Department – such as introducing further changes to the means testing for Carer’s Allowance - would have implications for overall spending and could only be addressed in an overall budgetary and policy context.

I trust that this clarifies the matter.