64. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Social Protection her proposals to change the eligibility for self-employed persons to carer's benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37989/24]

The main income supports to carers provided by my department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Spending on these payments is expected to amount to over €1.7 billion this year.

Carer's Benefit is available to insured people who leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a child or an adult in need of full-time care and attention. It is payable for a period of 2 years (104 weeks) for each care recipient and may be claimed over separate periods up to a total of 2 years (104 weeks).

Only Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions paid at classes A, B, C, D, E and H are counted towards Carer's Benefit. Contributions paid at class S (self-employed contributions) do not count. Self-employed workers paying class S contributions are currently covered for most of the benefits available under the social insurance system.

Self-employed workers whose income is €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable to pay social insurance contributions at the class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500.

There has been an extensive expansion of access to the range of social insurance benefits for self-employed social insurance contributors in recent years, without any increase in the 4% rate of contribution made by them. In effect, self-employed contributors, in return for a contribution of 11 percentage points lower than for employed contributors, have access to benefits which comprise over 90% of the value of all benefits available to employed contributors.

The only benefits that Class S PRSI does not provide access to are carer's benefit, health and safety benefit, illness benefit and occupational injuries benefits.

Where a carer cannot satisfy the PRSI conditions attached to the Carer's Benefit payment, application for the non-means tested payment of Carer's Allowance is available. A self-employed carer may also be eligible for Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carers Support Grant provided they satisfy the criteria for those schemes. My Department will continue to keep its range of supports under review to ensure that they meet their overall objectives. However, any changes in access to additional schemes, including Carer's Benefit, for self-employed contributors would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context, including the appropriate contribution rates.

I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.