Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2024
464. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she agrees that the rate of carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit should be increased to €325 in recognition of the significant and unavoidable costs of care faced by caring families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29193/24]
View answer468. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will support the request of an organisation (details supplied) to increase the carer's allowance to €325; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29206/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 464 and 468 together.
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 include Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance, and the Carer's Support Grant. Spending on these payments in 2024 is expected to exceed €1.7 billion.
Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit are financial supports to people who cannot earn, or can only earn a limited income, due to their caring responsibilities. They are not payments for caring.
Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of improvements to the payments for carers.
• 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.
• Weekly carer's payments have increased by €29 over the last three Budgets.
• The monthly Domiciliary Care Allowance payment has increased by €30.50 to its current rate of €340 per month since January 2023.
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.
• In June 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.
Since 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 disregards in the Social Welfare system.
These changes mean that carers on a reduced rate move to a higher payment. In addition, many carers who previously did not qualify for a payment due to their means are brought into the Carers Allowance system for the first time.
In acknowledgement of the particular challenges faced in light of the current cost of living crisis, significant Cost-of-Living lump sum payments have been provided for carers including:
• €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.
The current rate for Carer’s Allowance is one of the higher rates within the social welfare system. Where a carer is under 66, the maximum weekly rate is €248; where a carer is 66 or over, the maximum weekly rate is €286. For Carer’s Benefit, the maximum weekly rate is currently €249, or at €373.50 where more than 1 person is being cared for.
By way of comparison, for Jobseeker’s Allowance, the maximum weekly rates range from €141.70 to €232, depending on the age of the recipient. The Disability Allowance maximum weekly rate is €232.
To raise the rates to €325, as the Deputy suggests, would be a 31 percent increase. This would have significant budgetary implications and would give rise to inconsistencies in how rates of payment are applied across other social protection schemes. It would also diminish the level of supports available to other areas given that the availability of resources is finite.
I am committed to supporting our family carers and I will continue to keep the range of supports provided by my department under review. However, any changes, such as further increases to the rates, would have to be considered in an overall budgetary and policy context.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
