Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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989.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter.[35160/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Daily Expense Allowance (DEA) of €38.80 per week is payable to applicants for International Protection who live in or are on a waiting list to move into accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

When a person’s application for International Protection has been refused, they are no longer deemed to be an applicant for International Protection under the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018 and are therefore not entitled to the DEA.

The Department of Justice notifies my Department on a weekly basis with details of persons who are refused International Protection and/or are subject to deportation orders. On receipt of this notification, my Department proceeds to disallow the person’s Daily Expenses Allowance.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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990.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 1408 of 23 July 2024, if the number of recipients in receipt of the living alone allowance will be supplied, given the number was not provided in the response to the question.[35167/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Living Alone Increase is a supplementary payment for people who are living alone and getting a social welfare payment such as a pension or disability allowance.

At the end of July 2024 there were 244,851 persons in receipt of the Living Alone Increase.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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991.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated increased cost of removing the means test for disability allowance and providing it at the full rate for all who qualify; and if she will make a statement on the matter.[35232/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Departments primary disability related social assistance scheme is Disability Allowance, which is a means-tested payment for people with a specified disability who are aged between 16 and 66. In addition to the means test, in order to be eligible, the disability must be expected to last for at least one year. The allowance is also subject to a medical assessment and a habitual residency requirement.

Estimated expenditure on Disability Allowance for 2024 is expected to be almost €2.2 billion.

Social welfare legislation provides that, for means-tested social assistance schemes, all income and assets belonging to the claimant, and his or her spouse/partner where applicable, is assessable for means testing purposes. The purpose of the means test is to ensure that resources are directed to those with the greatest need for income supports by the State. It is the nature of means-tested schemes that above a certain level of means a person is not entitled to a payment, as it is deemed their own means are sufficient to provide for their needs.

It should be noted that Disability Allowance has one of the highest capital disregards operated by the Department of Social Protection. A recipient can have up to €50,000 in savings and still receive the full rate of payment. This is compared to €20,000 for most social welfare payments.

For people in employment, an income disregard of €165 per week is applied with 50% of earnings between €165 and €375 also disregarded. Persons can currently earn up to €165 per week and keep their payment in full and can earn up to €505.10 per week and keep a small portion of their payment and keep their secondary benefits.

In Census 2022, over 1.1 million people reported having a disability. If we look at those aged 16-66, that number drops to 680,000 people. Based on these figures, the estimated increased cost of removing the means test for Disability Allowance and providing it at the full rate for all who qualify would be up to €6 billion annually. This figure does not include increases for Qualified Adults or Qualified Children or secondary benefits.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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992.To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated increased cost of removing the means test for carer’s allowance and providing it at the full rate for all who qualify; and if she will make a statement on the matter.[35233/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government acknowledges the valuable role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy.

The main income supports to carers provided by my department are 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 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 97,130 people receiving this payment.

It is important to note that Carer’s Allowance is a financial support to people who cannot earn, or can only earn a limited income, due to their caring responsibilities and who have no other means or resources to rely upon. The Carer’s Allowance is not and never was intended to be a payment for the provision of caring.

The two principal conditions for receipt of Carer’s Allowance are that full time care and attention is required and provided, and that a means test is satisfied.

The use of means tests in the social welfare system is a method of targeting scarce resources to those that have most need. Removal of the means assessment for Carer’s Allowance, would not only change the nature of the scheme as an income support but would also have significant policy and budgetary implications and reduce the scope for the Department to provide income supports to lower income households.

My department conservatively estimated that the cost of removing the means test for Carer’s Allowance would be an additional €600 million per annum. This estimate was based solely on administrative data available to the Department, i.e., care recipients as per the Carer’s Support Grant figures. The figure takes no account of potential inflow. Census 2022 records approximately 299,000 self-reported carers over 19 years of age, with the total having increased by 50% from 195,000 six years previously. The main carer organisations believe the number is under reported and propose that there are about 500,000 carers. If it is the case that the number of carers is this high, it follows that the cost of abolition of the means test will also be much higher.

With the caveat that we cannot be certain how many people would meet the qualifying conditions for the scheme e.g., provision of full-time care of 35 hours or more per week, unknown overlap between the Census and the current recipients of carer income support payments, etc, a potential inflow of the people who self-report as carers in the Census could range from a low estimate of €880 million up to a high estimate of €2 billion. Increased expenditure on this scale would fundamentally change the nature of financial support and clearly reduce the scope to fund other critical schemes and services.

It is important to note that those carers who have no income other than the Carer’s Allowance payment would not benefit from the abolition of the earnings disregard.

Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of significant 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.
• In June 2024, the weekly income disregards were increased further, from €350 to €450 for a single person, and from €750 to €900 for carers with a spouse/partner.

The means test disregards for Carer's Allowance are the highest in the Social Welfare system.

Notwithstanding these improvements, as part of Budget 2024, I established 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 carer's payments. This work is ongoing.

It is also important to acknowledge that there are a range of other supports for carers provided by the Department which are not based on a means assessment.

• The Carer’s Support Grant can be claimed by carers regardless of their means or social insurance contributions. I increased this grant to €1,850, its highest ever rate.
• Carer's Benefit is a weekly payment based on social insurance contributions rather than a means test and is payable for a period of up to 2 years.
• Domiciliary Care Allowance is payable to a parent or guardian in respect of a child who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age. As part of Budget 2024 we have increased the payment by another €10 bringing it to €340 per month.

I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.