Carers do extraordinary work all across Ireland. They show incredible dedication to vulnerable loved ones they care for: parents who care for children and young adults with complex needs, those who look after their elderly parents and those who care for family members with disabilities. Caring is work done with love, but it is work. It is 24-7 every day and every night non-stop. Carers do not get to clock out; they keep going. The work they do saves the State billions, yet there is very little recognition from the State and for many there is no recognition at all.

It is wrong carer's allowance is means-tested. That means test must be abolished. In the Government's budget last week it allocated just €11 million to relax the means test. As a first step towards scrapping the means test, we in Sinn Féin proposed an allocation of €100 million, which is ten times higher than what the Government has done. Our proposal would have increased the income threshold to €730 or €1,460 for a couple. That compares to only €625 or €1,250 for a couple under the Government's measure. The Government's increase is a modest improvement, but it is making carers wait until next July for this to kick in. Why is that? Why is the Government making carers wait?

The very real pressure on carers was laid bare on RTÉ's "Liveline" last week. One caller, Angela, told her story. She was getting half carer's allowance to care for her 24-year-old daughter, Shannon. Shannon has spastic cerebral palsy, chronic lung disease and scoliosis. She is blind and she is PEG-fed. She is on multiple medications and she requires round-the-clock care. Angela was means-tested in May. She was informed her allowance would be cut by €40 per week because her husband earned above the threshold. Her husband, we should bear in mind, is a man who comes home from work and begins his second job of caring for his beloved daughter. Angela expects her half carer’s allowance will be restored following the budget, but she has to wait until July for this. Somebody in Angela’s situation should not be means-tested at all.

Lisa also rang in. She cares for two adult children with autism. She says she will care for them for the rest of her life. In February, Lisa and her husband were means-tested. Her carer’s allowance was slashed by a third because her husband earns slightly over the limit. Lisa’s workload did not change, her bills did not go down, but Lisa’s support was cut. When the threshold was increased last summer the payment was restored, but the whole experience has robbed her of certainty. She said the means test process was incredibly disrespectful. She was asked to submit bank statements even for the card her daughter uses to buy chocolate when she is out for a walk. She said the process made her feel like a cheat and she was queried as though she were money laundering. Those were her words.

Níl sé ceart go bhfuil dearmad déanta ar chúramóirí arís agus arís eile agus go bhfuil siad curtha ar chúl na scuaine. Níl sé ceart go bhfuil orthu fanacht sé mhí le haghaidh feabhsuithe beaga. As the Taoiseach well knows, Angela and Lisa are not alone in how they were treated and it should not be this way. Carers must have respect, fairness and certainty, so instead of making carers wait until July will the Taoiseach ensure the Social Welfare Bill delivers the threshold increases for carer's allowance from January?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I begin by recognising, as she did, the very important role carers play in society. We all know it from our families and communities and there are widespread views across the House and society about the need to continue to do all we can to support our carers.

I note the likes of Family Carers Ireland, a representative group for family carers, spoke in acknowledging a number of the positive steps in this budget for carers. I accept there is always more to do, but I take seriously their positive comments towards budget 2025, which we just delivered last week, and towards the cost-of-living measures in that budget, many of which will have a real and meaningful impact for carers much more quickly than next year.

At the end of August, 97,407 people were in receipt of carer's allowance and the estimated cost of this scheme this year is expected to be more than €1.1 billion. Of course, the Deputy is right that it should not be seen as a cost as it is saving the State such a significant sum of money. We have seen very significant steps by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, in terms of increasing the income disregard for carer's allowance, and I know the Deputy acknowledged that and, certainly, representative groups I have met along with the Minister have acknowledged that in my presence. It was €332.50 and has gone to €625 for a single carer and from €665 to €1,250 for a carer who is part of a couple. It is also worth noting that, in the budget, we took a number of other steps at the request of carers and their representative organisations, including increasing the capital disregard. We increased this as part of the budget and a carer with a spouse or a partner can now have capital of up to €100,000. Again, this was something we directly heard from carers in our pre-budget meetings and engagements, some of which I also attended.

Notwithstanding those improvements, let me agree with the Deputy on this point. There is more work to do on this and on eligibility for carer's allowance and supports more broadly. That is why my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, established a working group to look exactly at the whole area of means-tested payments to family carers. That group will report by the end of the year, and I know that will be an important moment and something, again, carers' representative organisations have looked for.

There are a variety of costs related to what it would cost to abolish the means test. I acknowledge the Deputy has had her work done on this issue, we have some work done, and we await the work of the working group. A conservative estimate is an additional cost of approximately €600 million per annum based on current claim numbers. However, looking at census 2022, the number of carers and the potential inflow to the system the cost could be €2 billion per annum. We are aware of that but I just want to put that out there for the record.

We have taken a number of measures in the here and now while we wait for that working group to conclude this year, including increasing the annual carer's support grant by €150 to €2,000. The rate of this grant has increased by €300 since 2021. The social insurance-based carer's benefit has been extended to the self-employed for the first time. We had a bizarre situation where the self-employed could not qualify for that benefit, so we have rectified that. There are a number of practical measures to help carers with the cost of living, including a €400 cost-of-living lump sum payment in November for carers who are eligible for the carer's support grant. In October, we will see the cost-of-living bonus being paid to all people who receive weekly long-term social welfare payments, including carers. The Christmas bonus will be paid to in excess of 1.3 million long-term recipients, including carers. We have increased the weekly rate of carer's allowance and carer's benefit by €12 per week, the fourth successive rise in weekly rates under this Government. Rates have increased by €41 per week during the lifetime of this Government. There have also been a range of other measures.

The Deputy asked a specific question about July and the answer I have been given is we increased that in July last year so we will increase it each 12 months. We last increased it last July and the next level of increase will kick in next July. To carers, we are very clear on this. We have taken a number of measures to help in the here and now. We have received positive feedback from their representative organisations on that. There is a recognition of an important piece of work that is under way with the working group that is looking at the whole issue of the means testing for family carers. We look forward to acting on its recommendations later this year.

I visited Crumlin yesterday, as it happens, and spoke to a number of families who have children and young people with autism. We spoke about lots of things such as school places and so on. The one issue that came up with them and that I hear again and again - it is not recent; it is a long-standing issue - is the means test for the carer's allowance.

I spoke to one woman yesterday who recounted how her husband has forgone three different pay increases because it would tip them over the edge in terms of the carer's allowance. They are not a well-off family. They are struggling to make ends meet. I put it to the Taoiseach, notwithstanding the work of the group he has set up to investigate the matter, that we need to accept as a matter of fact and principle that the means test has to be abolished. It is the smartest investment we will make as a State in our carers and in home caring.

I come back to the issue of July versus January.

We will move amendments to the Social Welfare Bill to move this back to January. I do not think it is a fair or reasonable explanation to tell people who are struggling as it is that they will have to wait for an additional six months because of some Government timetabling issue. When we move those amendments, I appeal to the Government to accept them.

We often have an argy-bargy in this House, but on this issue, there is a broad consensus that we need to do more to support our carers. I acknowledge that, and it is why I have outlined a number of the steps the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has taken and that I am proud of those steps because I know they have made a real difference because I have met the people who are benefiting from them. There is recognition that changes to the means test are required. That is why, under Heather Humphreys as Minister, we have seen the amount a single person can earn go from €332.50 to €625 and the amount a family can earn rise from €625 to €1,250. As the Deputy rightly said, we introduced in the measures in the budget announced only last week to move those amounts again.

Carers have also told us they are not only getting caught on the means tests in terms of their weekly income but are also because they are self-employed. They have asked us to do something in that regard and we have acted. Carers have said they can also get caught if they have a bit of capital, a bit of money set aside for their children for college or for their future or whatever else, as families can do. We have also acted in that regard. We will act on the findings of the working group and will engage in good faith on these issues during the Social Welfare Bill.