Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Invalidity Pension is a long-term income support payable to an insured person who satisfies certain PRSI contribution conditions and who is permanently incapable of work due to an illness or incapacity. Access to Invalidity Pension is available to self-employed contributors to protect them in the event of long-term injury or disablement.

Illness Benefit is the primary short term income support provided by my Department to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance.

Eligibility for Illness Benefit depends on the person’s PRSI record and class. People must have made the required number of contributions in Class A, E, H or P to qualify.

In general, self-employed people make PRSI contributions at Class S which does not count towards eligibility for Illness Benefit. However, self-employed contributors who cannot work due to an illness or a disability may apply for Invalidity Pension, as mentioned previously, or Disability Allowance (a means-tested social assistance payment).

Illness Benefit is funded by the Social Insurance Fund through PRSI contributions. The Fund is central to our social protection system and the Government needs to ensure that it can provide adequate and sustainable social insurance pensions and benefits for a growing and ageing population.

Self-employed people pay contributions to the Fund at a lower rate of 4%. This is over 11 percentage points lower than the combined employer and employee contribution of 15.05% made in respect of employed contributors. However, self-employed contributors do have access to over 90% of benefits available from the Fund:

These are:

• Adoptive Benefit;
• Guardian's Payment (Contributory);
• Invalidity Pension;
• Jobseeker's Benefit (Self-Employed);
• Maternity Benefit;
• Parent's Benefit;
• Partial Capacity Benefit (where in receipt of Invalidity Pension);
• Paternity Benefit;
• State Pension (Contributory);
• Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds;
• Treatment Benefit; and
• Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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104. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the current iteration of the means test for social assistance payments; if her Department is taking steps to update the means test; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46179/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Means tests in my Department are kept under regular review and a number of significant changes have been made in recent years.

I have introduced a number of changes to means testing, including providing for higher income disregards. These disregards ensure that, where people are in receipt of a social assistance payment and are working, their income from work to the level of the income disregard, is not assessed in the means test.

In 2022 I expanded the list of agri-environmental schemes that qualify for a disregard, and as part of Budget 2023 I increased this disregard.

In 2022 I also introduced a Rent a Room disregard, for all Social Protection schemes, to enable recipients to support those arriving from Ukraine, and others, in a tight housing market. Earlier this year, I extended that provision for a further two years.

From January this year I introduced significant changes to eligibility rules for Fuel Allowance, including a new means threshold for people aged 70 years and over - €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. These changes resulted in an additional 35,000 households joining the scheme so far.

Last year I significantly increased the income and capital disregards for Carer's Allowance. This enables more carers with modest incomes to become eligible for the scheme and allows carers and their families to earn more from employment while retaining their carer’s payment.

As part of Budget 2024 I have further increased the disregard to €450 for a single person, and €900 for carers with a spouse/partner from June.

Regulations which provide for disregards in relation to UCD's Cothrom na Féinne scholarship programme are in development and I hope to sign them in the coming days, benefitting third level students from lower income households.

I have committed to a carrying out broad review of means testing this year, which is ongoing, and it will be completed by the end of the year.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.