96. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will review the assessment criteria for social protection payments in cases where applicants and-or part-time farming applicants are not in paid employment outside the home but provide essential unpaid care and support within the household; and if he will consider allowing greater flexibility in recognising minimal or subsistence-level farming activity (details supplied), in view of concerns that rigid application of the rules is leaving some families without necessary supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50808/25]

Sentiment score: 0.30

Will the Minister consider reviewing the assessment criteria for social protection payments, especially in cases where applicants, including part-time farmers, are not in paid employment outside of the home but are providing unpaid care within the household? Could there be more flexibility in recognising minimal or subsistence-level farming activity, given the concerns that the current rigid rules are leaving some families without the supports they badly need?

Sentiment score: 0.09

I think all of us would have specific cases. Obviously, it would not be an avalanche by any manner of means, but we have people come to our constituency offices with those circumstances where they would be engaged full time in caring and their farm would be more of a financial burden than financially rewarding. They are doing the State a great service by providing care for their loved one. The calculation, based on the number of acres and the numbers of livestock, sometimes prohibits them from gaining carer's allowance for their loved one. When I mentioned "rigid", that is what I am referencing. There is a perception, somehow or other, that if you have land and-or a small number of stock, the calculation is that you are doing all right and that you are outside of your means, but there needs to be greater flexibility with those instances that I am referencing.

Sentiment score: 0.55

I fully accept that cases have to be assessed and the criteria are strict. The cases that I mentioned, as I said, involve only a small of people who have come to my constituency office who would fall into that category where they are full time. In fact, in order to come to the constituency office, they would sometimes have to get somebody to stand in and do the caring while they were absent from the house. That will tell the Minister the level of necessity there is and the requirement there would be for the Department and the Minister to be more compassionate in terms of the way we would deal with cases like that.

Sentiment score: 0.41