Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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543. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will exclude family means testing for persons who can qualify for the carer’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39145/22]

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 is the primary income support through which the Department supports carers in the community. Carer’s Allowance is a payment to people on low incomes who are caring full-time for a person who needs support because of age, disability or illness, including mental illness.  The two principal conditions for receipt of Carer’s Allowance are that full time care and attention is required and being provided, and that the means test which applies is satisfied.

The conditions attached to payment of Carer’s Allowance are consistent with the overall conditions that apply to social assistance payments generally. This 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.

The 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. Removing the means test for Carer’s Allowance would, in effect, create a new universal social protection scheme for those meeting the scheme’s basic caring condition.

In Budget 2022, I announced significant improvements to the means test for Carer's Allowance, in recognition of the vital role that carers play in society. These were the first changes to the means test in 14 years.

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

- The weekly income disregard was increased from €332.50 to €350 for a single person, and from €665 to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner.

The changes outlined came into effect on 2 June and many carers who, up to now, did not qualify for a payment due to means will now be brought into the Carer's Allowance system for the first time.  

Any additional changes to the Carer's Allowance means test would have to be considered in an overall policy and Budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.