Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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461. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to respond to a pre-Budget 2025 submission (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29174/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The key role of the Department of Social Protection is to provide income supports where there is an income need. 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. Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2024 is expected to exceed €1.7 billion.

I am familiar with the pre-budget submission from the organisation the Deputy refers to. My department hosted the Annual Carers’ Forum on 22 May, which I attended and I heard first hand the issues raised by the carers organisations and importantly family carers themselves. In addition, my department will host the Pre-Budget Forum on 11 July. This event will be a further opportunity for me to hear the views of various stakeholders.

These type of engagements have resulted in numerous improvements to the carers payments in my time as Minister for Social Protection.

• In 2021, I increased the annual Carer’s Support Grant to €1,850, the highest rate since its introduction. The Carer's Support Grant is automatically paid to people in receipt of Carer's Allowance, Carer’s Benefit and Domiciliary Care allowance. Other carers not in receipt of a carer’s payment may also be eligible for the Grant. On Thursday 6 June some 132,523 carers received the grant in respect of 149,361 care recipients, at an estimated cost of €275 million.
• One of the key pension reform measures introduced from January this year is to enhance State Pension provision for people who have been caring for incapacitated dependents for 20 years or more. It will do this by attributing the equivalent of a paid contribution to long-term carers to cover gaps in their contribution record for State Pension (Contributory) purposes.
• Weekly carer's payments have increased by €29 over the last three Budgets.
• The monthly Domiciliary Care Allowance payment has increase by €30.50 to its current rate of €340 per month since January 2023. Further changes to the payment include:-
  • As part of Budget 2022, the period during which Domiciliary Care Allowance can be paid for children in hospital was extended from 3 months to 6 months.
  • As part of Budget 2023, Domiciliary Care Allowance became available for babies who remained in an acute hospital after birth for a period of 6 months.
  • As of May 2024, the Minister for Social Protection has extended the period from 6 months to 18 months for babies who remain in an acute hospital after birth.
• The Carer’s Allowance scheme is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers in the community. In 2024 the expenditure on the Carer’s Allowance scheme is estimated to be over €1.1 billion and there are currently 97,127 people receiving this payment.
  • 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.
  • More recently in June this year the weekly income disregard was further increased from €350 to €450 for a single person, and from €750 to €900 for carers with a spouse/partner.

• €400 for people receiving Carer’s Support Grant paid in November 2023 supporting 120,000 family carers;
• A cost-of-living double payment in December and a further double payment at the end of January 2024.