Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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134. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the State supports that exist for those availing of assisted living and or the providers of the assisted living schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32908/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The key role of the Department of Social Protection is to provide income support where an income need arises because of a particular contingency – be that illness, disability, caring or unemployment. The assisted living scheme is separate from these supports and does not fall under the remit of my Department.

Disability Allowance is the Department’s main income support for people who have a disability. To be eligible, the disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the person must be aged between 16 and 66 years of age. The allowance is also subject to a medical assessment, a means test and a habitual residency requirement.

People receiving Disability Allowance may also be eligible for secondary benefits such as free travel, fuel allowance, the household benefits package, the living alone allowance and the telephone support allowance.

Carer’s Allowance, and the Carer’s Support Grant are the main income supports provided by my Department to carers in the community. Carer’s Allowance is a means tested payment awarded to those carers who are caring for certain people who require full-time care and attention. Carers may also, subject to certain conditions, qualify for the household benefits package and a free travel pass. 

In acknowledgement of the crucial role that family carers play in our society and the challenges faced by those with disabilities I introduced a number of measures as part of Budget 2022 in relation to supports provided by my Department. These include:

- €5 increase in maximum rate of all core weekly payments - including disability and carers, which came into effect in January 2022,

- Increase to the general weekly means disregard for Disability Allowance to €7.60,

- Increase to the upper earnings disregard limit for Disability Allowance from €350 to €375 per week, effective from June 2022,

- An increase in the Capital/Savings disregard for Carer’s Allowance from €20,000 to €50,000 from June 2022,

- An increase in the weekly income disregard for Carer’s Allowance to €350 a week for single carers and to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner, also from June 2022

- Increase to the Fuel Allowance of €5 to €33 per week. (The weekly means threshold was also increased by €20 from €100 to €120.)  Both measures took effect from Budget day. 

For those in financial difficulty, the Supplementary Welfare Allowance is also available. This is a means-tested payment available through the Department's Intreo Centres.

The Department regularly reviews its supports and payments schemes to ensure that they continue to meet their objectives.

I trust that the Deputy will find this information useful.