Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2024
491. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the full-year cost of raising the 18.5-hour ceiling for carer’s allowance recipients who wish to pursue training or education while providing full-time care to 20 hours and 25 hours, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42615/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 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.
My department provides a comprehensive package of carers’ income supports including Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2024 is expected to exceed €1.7 billion.
The Carer’s Allowance is a means tested social assistance income support paid to those carers who are caring for certain people who require full-time care and attention. The means test is used to target the support to those most in need. There are currently 97,366 people in receipt of this payment.
A primary qualifying condition for the carer income supports provided, is that the applicant provides full-time care and attention to a person in need of such a level of care. The person being cared for must be so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention and be likely to require this full-time care and attention for at least 12 months. The time spent providing care must not be less than 35 hours per week.
While carer support payments are premised on the provision of full-time care and attention by the carer, they also provide flexibility in terms of allowing carers to engage in work, training or education up to 18.5 hours per week. During this time, adequate provision must be made for the care of the relevant person.
Both the full-time care and attention requirement and the 18.5-hour limitation are contained in the respective legislative provisions of the Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit and Carer’s Support Grant schemes.
The main cost elements of a proposal to increase the threshold would arise from new claimants who are not currently eligible because of the 18.5 hours condition. It is not known to the Department the number of people engaged in education or training who could become eligible as a consequence of increasing the hours threshold, as outlined by the Deputy, and therefore an estimate of the costs cannot be provided.
I believe that the 18.5-hour limitation represents a reasonable balance between meeting the requirement for providing full-time care for the care recipient and the needs of the carer to engage in education, training or employment, thereby supporting a carer’s continued attachment to the workforce and broader social inclusion. In effect, a carer can engage in these activities for half of a full-time working week.
Finally, any proposals for further changes to this condition would need to maintain this balance and would have to be considered in a policy and budgetary context.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
