Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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48. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will advise on her Department's review of means testing for carer’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6039/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government recognises the important role that family carers play in Irish society and is fully committed to supporting them through a range of payments and services.

Means tests in my Department are kept under regular review and a number of significant changes have been made in recent years. In particular, I have introduced a number of changes to means testing which provide for higher income disregards. These disregards ensure that, where people are in receipt of a social assistance payment and are working, a certain level of income from that work is not assessed in the means test.

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 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 as a consequence of a particular contingency, be that illness, disability, unemployment or caring.

In responding to the carer organisations and the voices of family carers, significant changes were made to the Carer’s Allowance means test as part of Budget 2022.

- 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 Disability Allowance.

- 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 came into effect on 2 June 2022. As a result, Carer's Allowance disregards are the highest income disregards in the entire social welfare system.

The Carer’s Support Grant is an annual payment for carers who look after people in need of full-time care and attention. The grant is paid in a single annual lump sum which is not means-tested and is not taxable. It is paid in respect of each care recipient. The Grant is currently paid at a rate of €1,850 per year, which is the highest rate at which it has been paid since it was first introduced in 1999.

As part of Budget 2023, I announced a range of measures directly benefiting family carers, particularly in light of the current cost of living crisis.

Finally, I have committed to a carrying out broad review of means testing this year which will include Carer's Allowance means test provisions.