I call Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick on behalf of the Regional Group.

It is time for us to recognise the profound impact the carer’s means test has on the lives of carers and those for whom they care, and to advocate for its abolition. The means test undermines the principle of fairness and social justice that should underpin our welfare system. This test assesses not just the needs of the person being cared for but also the income and assets of carers themselves. Under this system, even a modest income can disqualify carers from receiving the carer's allowance, making it harder for them to maintain financial independence. The intention behind this test was to ensure fairness but, in reality, it places an unfair burden on carers, forcing them to choose between providing essential care and earning a living wage. It has inadvertently become a barrier to the very support it aims to provide. It creates a cruel paradox whereby carers are penalised for trying to earn a living even when their caregiving duties prevent them from working full-time.

Caring for a loved one is not merely a responsibility, it is an act of compassion and love that often comes at great personal sacrifice. Carers perform tasks, often around the clock, without the luxury of regular working hours or financial compensation to match their efforts. The means test ignores the emotional, physical and financial toll that caregiving imposes on individuals. By restricting access to financial supports, the test devalues the significant contribution carers make to society. Without carers, many people would rely more heavily on State-funded care facilities, which would increase the cost to the State.

Many carers struggle to make ends meet, yet the means test cuts them off from crucial supports if their income is deemed too high in the context of arbitrary thresholds. It is a system that overlooks the fact that caring for someone is not just emotionally taxing, but can also be financially draining. Carers frequently face additional expenses, including medical equipment, home adaptations and transport to medical appointments, which put immense strain on household finances.

I also highlight that the carer’s allowance provides more than just financial assistance. It acts as a gateway to other essential services, such as free travel, household benefits and respite care. By restricting eligibility through the means test, many carers are also denied access to these critical services, making it even harder for them to manage their caregiving responsibilities.

Carers often experience high levels of stress, burnout and isolation due to the demands of caregiving and the financial strain imposed by the means test exacerbates these issues. This disproportionately affects women, who make up the majority of carers, and those from low-income backgrounds who are already vulnerable. This test creates a disincentive to engage in employment or pursue professional development, trapping carers in precarity.

The Minister is aware of the number of people who are in nursing homes because they have nobody to care for them. He is aware of the number of bed-blockers in hospitals for the same reason. Caring is a vocation. I ask the Minister and the Government to abolish the means test.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. We all know that those who provide care to loved ones within the community make an invaluable contribution in supporting those who need help. By doing that, they complement the work of the State and alleviate pressure on our hospitals and nursing homes. Without the work of our carers, the pressures they face would be even bigger. In fairness to my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, this is an issue she really understands. I will come on to the issue the Deputy raised in regard to the means test in a moment but, due to her recognition of this issue and the work the Government has done in recent years, carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit have been increased by €29 per week over a number of budgets. It is the reason the carer’s support grant was increased to €1,850, its highest level in the history of the State.

As for the Deputy's point in respect of means-testing, it is in recognition of this that the income disregards have now been changed, most recently in June of this year when they were increased from €350 to €450 for a single person and up to €900 for carers who have a spouse or partner. What the Government has aimed to do is to change the income disregards, recognising the issue people face, namely, that when a means-tested payment is provided, it can create difficulty for those who are just outside of it and that difficulty is added to when they are providing care for those they love in situations that are frequently very difficult.

I remind the House of probably the most significant change that has been made, which is the introduction of the long-term carer's contribution, doing more to help ensure that if somebody has been a full-time carer throughout their life, they have a better chance of accessing the State pension later in life in recognition of what they have done.

Deputy Fitzpatrick raised the issue of getting rid of the means test. What we have aimed to do over a number of years is increase the value of the payment and change the income disregard. Regarding the full abolition of a means test, for many social welfare payments, a means test is at the heart of how we can ensure our money goes to those who need it the most. The Minister has put a working group in place to assess this issue. I understand the working group will come back to the Minister and her Department with a report on this issue in quarter 4 2024, before the year is out. It is a complex issue but, as we are dealing with it, we have changed the value of the payment and the income disregards to recognise the immense work carers do in our country.

I thank the Minister for his response. In fairness, a lot of the things he mentioned are very good. However, in my situation, and I am sure it is the same for nearly every TD in the Chamber, many people come into constituency offices with the problem of having loved ones stuck in hospitals and nursing homes, and they have nobody to look after them. Nobody wants to be stuck in a hospital for six or seven weeks waiting for someone to look after them. There is a serious shortfall of carers. Both the Minister and I know the money is good, but it is not going to put bread and butter on the table for a family looking after a loved one. There are many genuine people out there who want to look after their loved ones but the means test is putting them off. It is a no-brainer because it will benefit everybody. The amount of money carers save the State is not thousands or millions of euro; it is a serious amount of money. There are many people out there affected by this. I know many people who are trying to get a place in a nursing home but cannot get one, and many people who are in nursing homes who should not be there. My proposal would be a win-win for everybody. I will put my hand up and say the Government has done a good job on the issue of carers in recent years, but an awful lot more could be done. There has to be an in-between. As the Regional Group will state in our motion tabled for tomorrow, we believe the best way forward is to abolish the means test and try to get these people looked after.

I meet the same people as Deputy Fitzpatrick does. They do such great work keeping family members out of nursing homes and hospitals, keeping them at home and giving them love and support. I also see the cost and impact it has on them as they provide that support. It is because of that we have made the changes I outlined to the Deputy, which he has been gracious enough to recognise in his supplementary question.

In terms of the means-testing element of what the Deputy is making the case for, the Department of Social Protection informed me that were the means test to be removed in its entirety, the cost of that alone for the carer's payment would be between €600 million and €2 billion per year. That is just for that payment. I am sure that if we changed the means testing for carer's payments, we would face equal calls to change it for other important social welfare payments. As I said, in recognition of the importance of this payment and the difference it makes, it is being examined. I am sure that will yield conclusions and some practical next steps. As that is being done, I know the Department of Social Protection, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the broader Government will try to find practical ways to support our carers through payments and the other forms of support we make available to them.