2026-06-18

6. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Social Protection for a report on his attendance at the annual carers’ forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46023/26]

I ask the Minister for Social Protection for a report on his attendance at the annual carers' forum. I note the Minister's earlier reply so I have no difficulty making that more brief because of the answer he gave to the House a moment ago.

I thank Deputy McAuliffe. The annual carers’ forum was held on 7 May this year and I was delighted to attend and speak at the forum. The carers' forum is an important platform within the Department of Social Protection and allows family carers to engage directly with my Department and officials from other Departments to discuss important issues and carers' invaluable role in Irish society. I thank Family Carers Ireland and Care Alliance Ireland for partnering with my Department in organising the forum and contributing to its success. The event brings together family carers, carer organisations and Government officials in structured dialogue and, more importantly, for the sharing of personal lived experiences. A broad range of issues were addressed, including proposals relating to the carer’s allowance means test and measures aimed at improving access to supports. The workshops also highlighted cross-Government concerns, such as access to respite services, which we discussed earlier, housing and transport. We published a comprehensive note of proceedings on my Department’s website. We fully recognise the vital contribution of family carers and as a Government, we are committed to supporting them. I am pleased to confirm that, from next month, the weekly income disregard for carer's allowance will increase from €625 to €1,000 for a single person and from €1,250 to €2,000 for carers with a spouse or partner. These are the highest ever increases. They will enable individuals with higher incomes to qualify for carer’s payments. For example, a carer in a two-adult household with an income of approximately €110,000 will retain their full payment and even with an income of €138,000, they will retain a partial payment. Additionally, the annual carer's support grant was paid earlier this month at a rate of €2,000 to over 147,000 carers at a cost of €336 million. We will have further engagement at our annual pre-budget forum on 1 July with the carers groups. These will all inform my priorities for budget 2027, the work for which is under way.

I note this question was transferred to me from Deputy Aisling Dempsey. She has spoken to me about the issue of carers. In the previous election, Family Carer's Ireland campaigned very strongly for abolishing the means test for carers. The commitment was very clear that we would do that over the lifetime of the Government. The increase in the income thresholds has to be acknowledged. As the Minister said, it has increased to €110,000 for a full payment and €138,000 for a partial payment. That very significantly includes the vast majority of people who were in that category and came to us to ask to abolish the means test. Of course, it is not just about getting access to the payment. It is also about acknowledging that this is real work, it should not be means tested and it should not be linked to the income of your partner. I want to acknowledge that in the first budget that was a very significant amount of money spent that was not spent elsewhere. I acknowledge it was done in terms of carers.

I thank the Deputy. As I reiterated to Deputy Healy, in the Family Carers Ireland State of Caring in Ireland report, it estimated that 68% of families can now access a carer's payment. We have made a very strong commitment in terms of abolishing the means test for the carer's payment during the lifetime of the Government which, as I remind people, is due to go until 2029. There are many other areas and the State of Caring in Ireland report outlines there are many challenges with respite in particular and access to transport. They were articulated very strongly on 7 May at the carer's forum. I took the chance this year and last year to get that shared experience and hear directly from carers. I particularly want to pay tribute to and thank the young carers' group who were there. There are examples of young carers going to school and college and coming back and taking up caring responsibilities. I really want to look at what we can do to support our young carers, as well as carers as a whole.

I thank the Minister. To return to that point I made, often carers are women. Having spoken to them, I know they feel particularly aggrieved that just because their partner has done an extra five or six hours overtime a week or they have got a pay rise, that in some way means they lose their payment. That underlines the point that this should not be a means tested payment. It should be an acknowledgement for work done on behalf of the State. They are saving the State money. The quicker we move towards the abolition of the means test, the quicker we will be able to resolve that injustice. I acknowledge that the cases of the vast majority of people who would have previously come to my clinic on this issue have been addressed. Those people earning over €140,000 have not yet been addressed but obviously the Government is going to deal with that. I acknowledge the work the Minister has done.

There continues to be anomalies. I am due to receive a report into means testing generally across all of our Department's schemes in the coming weeks and we will be considering that. We obviously have to have means tests in many cases. We have made a commitment in relation to carers, but the kind of situation the Deputy has just described, where the caring spouse of somebody who works hard has to pay the bill for that and gets their allowance reduced, is not fair either. We are going to try to ensure this is as hassle-free as possible. Carers do extraordinary work, but it is very clear from our interaction on 7 May that there is more we can do across government to reduce the burden on carers. In many cases, it is getting out of their way. In many cases, it is facilitating things such as respite and transport. As I said, I want to work with colleagues across government, particularly the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, at the Departments of children and education, respectively, in respect of young carers and what more we can do for them.