Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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195. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the proposals she has to increase the income disregard pertaining to carer’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38422/24]

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 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.

Eligibility for Carer’s Allowance involves satisfying a means test. Means tests are an essential component of our social welfare system - they help to direct scarce resources to where they are needed most.

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

Budget 2022 saw the first changes to the means test in 14 years when 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. It is important to note that this equates to €100,000 in the case of a couple.

As part of Budget 2024, and with effect from June this year, the weekly income disregards were further increased from €350 to €450 for a single person, and from €750 to €900 for carers with a spouse/partner.

Since June 2022, this amounts to cumulative increases to the income disregards of €117.50 for a single carer and €235.00 for a carer who is part of couple. These are the highest weekly disregards in the Social Welfare system.

These recent changes to the means test have enabled more carers on a reduced rate to move to a higher payment. Additionally, many carers who previously did not qualify for a payment due to their means have been brought into the Carer's Allowance system for the first time.

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, and I expect a report from the group in Quarter 4 of this year.

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

• The Carer’s Support Grant is a payment for all carers, even those not in receipt of Carer’s Allowance. It can be claimed by carers regardless of their means or social insurance contributions. The grant can be used by carers in a manner which they see fit. It is paid in respect of each care recipient. I increased this grant as part of Budget 2021 to €1,850, its highest ever rate. Over 132,000 carers received the grant on Thursday 6 June at a cost of €275 million.
• Carer's Benefit is based on social insurance contributions. It is a very effective payment made to insured people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person in need of full-time care. It is payable for a period of up to 2 years for each care recipient and is estimated to cost almost €58 million in 2024.
• 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 increased the payment by another €10 bringing it to €340 per month. This monthly payment has increased cumulatively by €30.50 under this Government. Expenditure in 2024 is estimated to be almost €274 million.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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196. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the proposals she has to increase the income eligibility limit for the free fuel allowance for pensioners who are also in receipt of a small occupational pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38423/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €382 million in 2024. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household.

The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment, a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including a means test and the household composition criteria. The means test ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted to those who need them most.

In January 2023 a new means threshold was introduced for people aged 70 years and over. The new means threshold was €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. This was a very significant increase in the means threshold and allowed many more households to qualify for the fuel allowance payment.

In addition, for people aged 70 or over, the amount of capital that is disregarded was increased from €20,000 to €50,000. Savings over €50,000 are assessed on a proportionate basis only.

In January 2024, the allowable means for those aged over 70 was increased to €512 for a single person and €1,024 for a couple. This was to ensure that no one lost their entitlement to the Fuel Allowance payment due to the increase in weekly rates of Social Welfare payments.

Any further widening of the weekly income threshold for accessing the fuel allowance scheme can only be considered while taking account of the overall policy and budgetary situation.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.