Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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215. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the rationale for paying a full rate of domiciliary care allowance for every child that qualifies, when the same logic is not applied to the carer's allowance if a person is caring for more than one adult; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37181/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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 in 2024 is expected to amount to over €1.7 billion on these payments.

Domiciliary Care Allowance is a non means tested payment payable to a parent or guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 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 and requires this care for at least 12 consecutive months.

It is a monthly payment currently paid at a rate of €340 per month towards the costs of caring for this particular cohort of children with a severe disability. If more than one child is being cared for who requires this high level of care, the allowance is payable for each child.

As of the end of August there were 55,995 families in receipt of the payment in relation to 63,042 children. Expenditure in 2024 is estimated at almost €274 million.

The Carer’s Allowance scheme is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers in the community. The two principal conditions for receipt of Carer’s Allowance are that full time care and attention is required and being provided, and that the means test which applies is satisfied.

There are currently 97,407 people in receipt of Carer's Allowance and the estimated spend on this payment in 2024 is over €1.1 billion.

While the Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly payment towards the costs incurred in the care of a child with exceptional needs, Carer’s Allowance is a social assistance payment which offers a financial support to people who cannot earn, or can only earn a limited income, due to their caring responsibilities. It is a direct income support paid to the carer. It is not a payment for caring.

In circumstances where carers are providing care to more than one person, the rate of Carer's Allowance payable is increased by a maximum of 50% of the standard personal rate. A half-rate Carer’s Allowance may also be available to those in receipt of another social welfare payment who are providing full-time care and attention. Uniquely in the social welfare system in these cases, a carer may retain their main social welfare payment and receive another payment, depending on their means, the maximum of which is equivalent to a half-rate Carer’s Allowance.

It should also be noted that subject to satisfying a means test or having sufficient PRSI contributions, those receiving Domiciliary Care Allowance may also be eligible for Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit. Recipients of the Domiciliary Care Allowance payment also automatically receive the annual Carer's Support Grant in respect of each child being cared for.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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216. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost to the Exchequer annually of extending the full rate of the carer's allowance to people who care for two or more people; the estimated annual cost of increasing the half-rate carer's allowance to 75% for people who care for two or more people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37182/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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 97,407 people receiving this payment.

The total number of carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance for two or more carees is currently 11,784, of which 8,637 carers receive a full-rate payment, and 3,147 are in receipt of a half-rate payment.

In line with other social assistance payments, the Carer’s Allowance payment is made up of a personal rate for the carer and extra amounts for any child dependants. Carer's Allowance has no qualified adult payment.

It is important to note that, just as in the case of disability and job seeking payments, the Carer’s Allowance is not intended to be a compensatory payment for the full value of earnings foregone nor is it a payment by the State for the provision of care.

In this regard the payment is intended to provide an income support for the carer and does not depend on individual care requirements, so while the caring requirements of care recipients will differ, it is important to note that this does not affect the rate of the allowance. The only exception to this being an increase in the personal rate of payment where carers are providing care to more than one person. In these circumstances, the rate of Carer's Allowance payable is increased by a maximum of 50% of the standard personal rate. If the 8,637 carers received effectively an additional full rate Carer’s Allowance payment this would cost an estimated additional €55.69 million per annum.

The above estimate is based on the current under 66 Carer’s Allowance maximum personal rate of €248 per week being applied and therefore it does not take into account increased rates for carers over 66.

The half-rate Carer’s Allowance payment is available to carers in receipt of certain social welfare payments (other than Carer’s Allowance or Benefit and Jobseeker payments) who are providing full-time care and attention. This measure allows carers to retain their main payment and receive another payment, depending on their means, the maximum of which is equivalent to a half-rate Carer’s Allowance.

The annual cost of increasing the half-rate carer's allowance to 75% for people who care for two or more people would be an estimated additional €10.2 million per annum.

The calculation is based on the increased cost if all 3,147 carers in receipt of a half-rate Carer’s Allowance payment and caring for two or more carees received a weekly payment of €186. As per the previous estimate, the calculation is based on the current under 66 Carer’s Allowance maximum personal rate of €248 per week being applied and does not take into account the increased rates applied for carers over 66.

It is important to note that these costings are estimates based on administrative data. They take no account of year on year increases to the payments.

Any changes to the carer schemes under my remit could only be considered in an overall policy and Budgetary context.

I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.