Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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705. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the review of the National Carers’ Strategy, promised under the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15110/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government contains specific commitments in recognition of the contribution of Family Carers to care provision in Ireland, which will build on the progress to date in the implementation of the National Carers’ Strategy. One of these is to review and update the National Carers' Strategy. The other commitments coming under the remit of the Department of Health are to extend free GP care to carers in receipt of the Carer’s Support Grant, and to develop a ‘Carers Guarantee’ proposal that will provide a core basket of services to carers across the country regardless of where they live.

Before commencing work on an update and refresh of the National Carers' Strategy, consideration will need to be given by the Department of Health to the approach to the update and the breadth of stakeholder consultation. A review carried out by Care Alliance Ireland and UCC in 2021 of the Carers' Strategy found that for most actions (40/42), over 90% of carers felt they were still relevant and wanted them retained but that they should be strengthened.

It should be noted that in relation to the Programme for Government commitment to develop a ‘Carers Guarantee’ proposal, new funding of €2 million was provided in Budget 2021 under the umbrella of the National Carers’ Strategy to improve equity of access to supports for carers across the country, in tandem with the community and voluntary sector. This funding delivers substantially on the Carers' Guarantee: €1.9 million is being channelled through Family Carers Ireland for the delivery of a broad range of supports to carers, while the remaining €100,000 is supporting the development and delivery of online supports through Care Alliance Ireland.

In addition, the HSE is currently piloting a Family Carers Needs Assessment in Community Healthcare West over a two-year period from September 2021. The pilot is testing the implementation of the FCNA with 100 family carers across a variety of care groups including carers of people with dementia, older people, people with physical and sensory disability and those with mental health issues. It is looking at how caring affects the family carer, how much care they can realistically provide while still allowing for involvement in other activities, and, crucially, how any needs identified can be addressed. The FCNA is being piloted in conjunction with Family Carers Ireland.

To progress implementation of the Programme for Government commitment to extend free GP care to carers in receipt of the Carer’s Support Grant, it will be necessary for the Department of Health to undertake additional detailed analysis of the related policy, financial, operational and legislative requirements arising, in conjunction with the Department of Social Protection as appropriate.

It should be noted that since September 2018, individuals in receipt of either a full or half-rate Carer's Allowance or Carer's Benefit are automatically eligible for a GP visit card. On foot of this measure, as at 1st February 2023, 6,308 persons in receipt of either full or half-rate Carer's Allowance or Carer's Benefit have gained GP Visit Card eligibility. It is also noted that many carers may have already held a medical card or GP visit card prior to this welcome policy change. A range of other measures have been introduced in recent years to expand access to GP Care, including the automatic awarding of a GP visit card to all persons over 70 in 2015 and a 10% increase to the income thresholds for a GP Visit Card in 2019, which are considerably higher than those for a medical card.

Furthermore, as provided for in Budget 2023, from April, eligibility for GP visit cards will be extended to people who earn up to the median household income (€46,000 or less). Over 400,000 additional persons, who otherwise would have attended their GP on a private basis, are expected to become eligible for free GP care under this expansion. It is likely that many of those currently in receipt of the Carer's Support Grant will be among those positively affected by this expansion, although an estimate of the exact number is not currently available.