78. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Social Protection to implement a disregard of carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit in the assessment of income for other social protection payments such as the working family payment. [67664/26]

My Department has over 90 schemes, a significant number of which are means-tested schemes.  Social welfare legislation provides that various means tests take account of the income and assets of the person (and their spouse or partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme.

Means assessments can include income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions and maintenance payments depending on particular rules of the scheme concerned.  They also include consideration of property owned, other than the family home, and capital such as savings, shares, and other investments.

As each scheme addresses different contingencies, there are variations in the manner in which income is assessed across means tests.

The Working Family Payment is an in-employment support, as such it is an income-assessed scheme and is not subject to a means test.  The main legislative provisions are contained in the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005, as amended, primarily Part 6, Sections 227 to 233 and in the Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control Regulations) 2007 to 2017, as amended, primarily Part 6, Articles 172 to 177.

All income from employment assessed is net of income tax, pay-related social insurance, the universal social charge and pension-related deductions.  In general, income from social protection payments, including Carer’s Allowance, is included in the assessment.  Certain sources of income are not included in the calculation, including Child Benefit, the Supplementary Welfare Allowance, Rent Allowance and certain payments made directly or indirectly by or on behalf of the Minister for Justice.

Any changes would need to be considered in an overall budgetary and policy context.