Laois Offaly TD, Carol Nolan, has called on the government to urgently address the need to reassess means test income threshold for carers.”
Minister Darragh O’Brien has confirmed to the Independent TD that Government is actively considering what additional supports can be made available to carers as part of the next Budget.
This followed her call for an immediate reassessment of the income thresholds that currently apply to those seeking to make an application for carer related payments.
Deputy Nolan had raised the matter in the Dáil with Minister O’Brien, who was taking questions on behalf of the Taoiseach. The Independent TD recently attended the launch of the Family Carers Ireland, Heart of Gold national fundraising initiative in Tullamore:
“While I welcome the recent announcement from Government that it will put in place measures to provide paid pension contributions for long-term carers who have been caring for more than 20 years, the fact remains that very many people who are de facto carers cannot access any payments or supports whatsoever,” said Deputy Nolan.
“Often these are people who are marginally above the income thresholds thereby squeezing them out of even minimal levels of financial support.”
“I am quite clearly saying that this needs to be reviewed in light of the fact that carers save the State an estimated €20 billion every year.”
“We are blessed to have an organisation like Family Carers in Tullamore and I want to commend all involved in the Heart of Gold campaign which launched last Thursday.”
“Part of that initiative involves raising awareness and advocacy for family carers, as well as maintaining to capacity to bring about real and meaningful changes in policy. Certainly, the barriers around the income threshold is a policy that needs to be urgently reviewed.”
“As the number of people in our population who are older in years increases we are going to see a significant increase in the level of demand from organisations like Family Carers. That needs to be matched with parallel levels of support by Government; which is something I will continue to strongly advocate for in the months and years ahead,” said Deputy Nolan.