Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age. Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged 16 and 17 if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves.

As of 31/08/2023, there were 648,564 recipients of Child Benefit payments in respect of 1,211,902 children.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Jobseeker's Allowance is a payment to people who are unemployed. It is a means-tested payment, so your income must be below a certain amount to get Jobseeker's Allowance.

As at 15th September, there were 125,481 recipients of Jobseeker's Allowance. Of these, 9,905 were aged 18 to 24 and on the reduced rate of €129.70 per week.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Fuel Allowance is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other longer-term social welfare dependent households with their winter heating costs. The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full. The payment is made over the winter season at the weekly rate of €33.00 or, if preferred, by way of two instalment payments. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually.

In Budget 2023, Government announced the largest ever expansion of the Fuel Allowance Scheme. The changes introduced were:

• from January 2023, the introduction of a new means threshold for people aged 70 years and over, of €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple;
• in addition, for applicants aged 70 or over, the amount of capital (savings and investments) disregarded in the means test for Fuel Allowance was increased from €20,000 to €50,000. (Savings over €50,000 are assessed on a proportionate basis only); and,
• from January 2023, Disablement Benefit and Half-rate Carer’s Allowance payments were disregarded when assessing means for Fuel Allowance purposes. Disablement Benefit also no longer debars a household from receiving the Fuel Allowance payment.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly in-work support which provides an income support for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment, the customer must be working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight in ongoing insurable employment and have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them.

As of 20^thSeptember 2023, there are 45,856 families currently receiving Working Family Payment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carers may be entitled to a number of supports from the Department. The two main Social Welfare payments for carers providing full-time care are Carer's Allowance and Carer's Benefit.

Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that, as a result, they require that level of care.

Carer’s Benefit (CB) 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 and is payable within the European Union.

The total number of recipients currently in receipt of a CA payment is 94,705, while the total number of recipients currently in receipt of a CB payment is 3,806.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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383. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to respond to concerns raised (details supplied) in respect of a foster carer’s difficulties in accessing certain social protection supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41394/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The provision of fostering services is a matter for Tusla (the Child and Family Agency), including the provision of financial supports. Tusla provides a Foster Care Allowance in respect of each child in foster care. The weekly Foster Care Allowance is currently €325 per child under 12, and €352 for children aged 12 and over. Foster care allowances from Tusla are not taxable and are not included in the means test for social protection payments.

There are a number of social protection payments which are available to foster carers:

Child Benefit: Where a child has been placed in foster care, by Tusla, and the child has been in the continuous care of the foster carer for 6 months, Child Benefit may be transferred to the foster carer.

Increases for Qualified Children (for person in receipt of a Primary Social Welfare Payments): A foster carer who is in receipt of a primary social welfare payment (such as Jobseeker’s Allowance) is eligible for an Increase for a Qualified Child in respect of a foster child (as long as no other person is in receipt of an Increase for a Qualified Child in respect of the same child).

Working Family Payment: The Working Family Payment is paid to low-income families. The payment is based on the number of children / foster children in the family and overall household income.

Back to Work Family Dividend: The Back to Work Family Dividend is paid over a two year period and aims to help families move from social welfare into employment. A foster carer who moves off Jobseeker's Allowance and who was in receipt of an Increase for a Qualified Child(ren) can retain these payments for two years - 100% of the payment(s) is paid in year one and 50% in year two.

To be eligible for One Parent Family Payment or the Jobseeker Transitional scheme, an applicant must be a qualified parent, as defined in the relevant sections of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, which includes:

-a widow

-a widower

-a separated spouse

-an unmarried person

-a person whose spouse or civil partner has been committed in custody to a prison or place of detention for not less than 6 months, or

-a surviving civil partner

-a civil partner who is not living with the other civil partner of the civil partnership, or

-a person who is not a party to a civil partnership who is the parent, step-parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian of at least one relevant child, who normally resides with that person.

As a foster carer is not the parent or legal guardian of the foster child, they are not eligible for these schemes. However, as outlined above, foster carers are eligible for the Foster Care Allowance from Tusla, which is paid at a higher rate than these two lone parent social welfare schemes.