Sherlock seeks reform of Carer’s system for North Cork families

Speaking in a recent Dáil debate on the reform of the Carer’s Allowance scheme, Cork East TD Sean Sherlock urged the Government to reassess the way it views the income of carers, saying that recent one off increases in payments have been wiped out by inflation.

“Some of those increases are not keeping up with the rate of inflation and I respectfully suggest they be reviewed,” Deputy Sherlock said.

“This is my third time raising this matter. If somebody is in receipt of carer’s allowance or the half-rate carer’s payment and his or her spouse or partner is given the opportunity to avail of overtime, it will put the family’s income over the threshold. I am speaking specifically on behalf of a family I am advocating for, but I know they are reflective of hundreds of other families throughout the country. In this instance, a mother is caring for a son who has an intellectual disability and is going into adulthood. All the supports she received are now gone because her spouse or partner was able to avail of overtime. She lost all the supports she was receiving by dint of the increase in income of her spouse. It is that category of persons I am speaking about today,” he stated.

ELIGIBILITY

Deputy Sherlock emphasised that recognition in such instances should be looked at, to help those most affected who rely on a carer’s allowance.

“The Minister has said she is committed to carrying out a broad review of means testing this year, which will include means-test provisions for carer’s allowance. Could scenarios like that be looked at, especially in cases of families where a son or a daughter has an intellectual disability, so that some provision or exception could be made for people in that category?

That should not take away from the universality of the payments and exceptions should not be unnecessarily created. However, there should be some recognition of the fact that, in this instance, the woman, who is a spouse and a mother, could have had a career in her own right but made a choice to remain at home to care for her son. It may be a son or daughter and it affects any number of families throughout the country.

“I know that if there were to be an increase in the income disregard, that family would sneak under the chicken wire, as it were, and eligibility for the supports would apply to the primary carer in this instance. So much is lost when the income of a household increases. So much is lost that is accrued to the carer. That is who we are talking about here,” he concluded.