Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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311. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position on means testing home carers who may wish to return to work; if a scheme is being developed to ensure that such persons are not penalised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23607/24]

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. Spending on these payments is expected to amount to over €1.7 billion this year.

The Carer’s Allowance is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers in the community. Carer’s Allowance is a means tested social assistance payment awarded to those carers who are caring for certain people who require full-time care and attention. There are currently 96,670 people in receipt of Carer's Allowance. Means tests are an essential component of our social welfare system and they help to direct scarce resources to where they are needed most.

The primary objective of the payment is to provide an income support to carers whose earning capacity is substantially reduced as a consequence of their caring responsibilities and in so doing to support the ongoing care of the person in respect of whom care is being provided.

A primary qualifying condition for the Carer’s Allowance payment is that the applicant provides full-time care and attention to a person in need of such 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.

In order to support a carer’s continued attachment to the workforce and to support broader social inclusion, carers may engage in some limited employment, education or training up to 18.5 hours per week while still being regarded as being in a position to provide full-time care and continue to receive their full payment. During this time of employment, education or training, adequate provision must be made for the care of the relevant person.

The same means test criteria for Carer's Allowance applies to all carers including those cohorts of carers returning to work as well as those currently in the workplace.

Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of improvements to the means test for Carer's Allowance.

• In June 2022 the income disregards were increased from €332.50 to €350 for a single person, and from €665 to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner. The capital and savings disregard for the Carer’s Allowance means assessment was also increased from €20,000 to €50,000.
• As part of Budget 2024, the weekly income disregard will be further increased next week from €350 to €450 for a single person, and from €750 to €900 for carers with a spouse/partner.

Notwithstanding these improvements, as part of Budget 2024, I announced my intention to establish an Interdepartmental Working Group with the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to examine and review the system of means test for carers payments.

I have asked this Group to report to me on the matter by Quarter 3 of this year.

I can assure the Deputy that I am keenly aware of the key role that family carers play in Irish society and the challenges they face, and I will continue to keep the range of income supports provided to family carers by my department under review.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.