Up to 116,000 Carers to Benefit from Support Grant from this Week

The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty TD, has announced that up to 116,000 carers will benefit from the Carer’s Support Grant from today. The annual grant of €1,700 is available to all carers providing full-time care to an older person or a person with a disability, regardless of their means or social insurance contributions.

Some 9,000 carers who are providing care for two or more people will receive a grant in respect of each person being cared for, to take account of the additional costs and challenges of providing care to more than one person.

The Carer’s Support Grant is paid automatically to carers who are receiving Carer’s Allowance (whether full rate or half rate), Carer’s Benefit, or Domiciliary Care Allowance. Other full-time carers who are not receiving any of these payments may also apply for the Carer’s Support Grant.

Minister Doherty said:

“I am very pleased to have been able to allocate €218 million for the Carer’s Support Grant this year which will benefit some 116,000 carers. It will be paid automatically to approximately 110,000 people receiving the Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit, and Domiciliary Care Allowance. It is also available to an estimated 6,000 full-time carers who are not in receipt of these payments. I urge these carers to apply for this grant. It is not means-tested and is assessed on the level of care being provided by the carer.”

The closing date for receipt of applications for the 2019 Grant is 31 December next year (31 December 2020).

The Minister added that in recent years the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has been providing funding, as part of the Dormant Accounts Action Plans, to support training for carers. Under the Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2018 in excess of €1.7m has been allocated to 12 projects across the country which will provide training, information and related support services for family carers. The purpose of this measure is to assist carers to provide the best care possible to the care recipient, to reduce the risk of injury to the carer and care recipient and, to help family carers cope with the emotional and psychological aspects of their role.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection’s expenditure on Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant (formerly Respite Care Grant) has increased from €1,110.664 million in 2017 to €1,206.380 million in 2018. The estimated expenditure on these schemes for 2019 is €1,275.355 million.

ENDS