Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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108. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will clarify the matter regarding PRSI contributions that relate to carer's benefit in cases in which a recipient is applying for a further round of carer's benefit in respect of care for a second eligible person commencing immediately after the expiry of the current eligibility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50514/22]

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

A primary qualifying condition for the Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit payments is that the applicant provides full-time care and attention to a person in need of such a level of care. The person being cared for must be so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention and be likely to require this full-time care and attention for at least 12 months.

The Carer's Benefit payment is an entitlement based on social insurance contributions. Carer’s Benefit is a payment made to insured people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person(s) in need of full-time care. It is payable for a period of 2 years (104 weeks) for each care recipient and may be claimed over separate periods up to a total of 2 years (104 weeks).

Only PRSI contributions paid in Classes A, B, C, D, E, H count towards Carer’s Benefit. Class S (self-employed contributions) do not count.

For a first claim the Carer must have:

- 156 PRSI contributions paid since entry into insurance

AND EITHER

- 39 contributions paid in the "Relevant Tax year"

or

- 39 contributions paid in the 12 months immediately before the commencement of the Carer's Benefit claim

or

- 26 contributions paid in the "Relevant Tax year" and 26 contributions paid in the previous "Relevant Tax year".

For a first claim, the Carer must also have been employed in full-time employment for at least eight weeks, either consecutive or not, in the 26-week period immediately prior to the commencement of the Carer's Benefit claim. Full-time employment in this context is defined as insurable employment for at least 16 hours per week or 32 hours per fortnight.

For a second or subsequent claim for Carer’s Benefit, as in the situation outlined by the Deputy, the Carer does not need to satisfy the PRSI contribution conditions afresh. Equally, the employment condition outlined above does not need to be satisfied afresh on a second or subsequent claim where a person was in receipt of Carer's Benefit within the previous 26 weeks.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.