Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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285. To ask the Minister for Health the first- and full-year cost of giving family carers the right to a minimum of 20 days paid respite. [31199/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Family carers are key enablers for Government policy to support people to live with dignity and independence in homes and communities for as long as possible by providing vital care to some of our most vulnerable citizens, including older people and people with disabilities.

Census 2022 found that 5.8% of the total population (299,128 people) provide unpaid care in Ireland, an increase of 53% from 2016 (195,263). 31% of carers were providing 20 or more hours of care per week. By contrast, the 2024 Healthy Ireland Survey found that 14% of the population aged 15 and over identified as carers (equating to approximately 610,000 people), with almost a quarter of these providing round the clock care for someone they live with.

Respite care is a vital part of the toolkit to support carers. Respite care may involve providing alternative family or residential care for inter alia older people, people with physical and intellectual disabilities, mental health conditions, chronic conditions, palliative care needs or addiction to enable the carer to take a short break, a holiday or a rest.

Calculating the cost of providing a minimum of 20 days of respite care to family carers is not possible in the absence of understanding the kind of respite the person with care needs and their family would prefer, whether the person is already in receipt of respite care, and establishing the eligibility criteria that should be applied to determine the right to respite care.

In March 2024 an inter-departmental working group to examine and review the system of means-tested payments for family carers was established. The working group is chaired by the Department of Social Protection, with membership from the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. The working group is considering a range of supports for family carers, including the provision of respite, and will report its findings to me and the Ministers for Social Protection and Children, Disability and Equality once finalised.

The Government recognises the vital work done by family carers and the impact that caring can have on carers' physical and mental health. The Programme for Government contains a number of commitments related to the work of my Department, including to fully fund the Carer's Guarantee; and to progressively increase funding for respite services, including the Home Support Emergency Respite Scheme. These commitments will be progressed over the lifetime of the Government.

Annual funding of €2.6 million is currently provided towards delivering the Carer’s Guarantee, in tandem with the community and voluntary sector. The bulk of the funding, €2.44 million is being provided to Family Carers Ireland to deliver a mix of community and individual supports across five areas of activity, including: education and training, community carer supports, intensive and emergency supports, a freephone careline, and psychosocial supports. The remaining €160,000 supports the development and delivery of online supports for over 8,000 family carers through Care Alliance Ireland by means of an online support group. In addition, since 2021, the ‘Home Support Emergency Respite Scheme’ has been funded by the HSE through Family Carers Ireland to provide emergency respite care to family carers.