Carers: System 'not fit for purpose' in Northern Ireland

Carers in Northern Ireland who receive a weekly allowance are being let down because the system is "not fit for purpose", MLAs have been told.

Almost 50,000 people in Northern Ireland currently receive the UK-wide benefit.

It works out at £81.90 a week and there are a number of rules on eligibility for the payment.

Carers NI said there is a "strong moral case" for the communities minister to increase financial support for carers.

Craig Harrison, the body's policy and press officer, said carers are "living lives defined by devastating hardship and poverty".

He made the comments at the Northern Ireland Assembly's communities committee on Thursday.

"When we have carers coming to us saying they're making their own sanitary products, because they can't afford to buy real ones in a shop, when we have carers describe being at breaking point... you can't escape the conclusion that Carer's Allowance is not fit for purpose," Mr Harrison said.

In 2022, a review of welfare mitigations recommended that Stormont should introduce extra support though a separate "carers recognition payment".

It would be worth about £541 and paid in two lump sums each year, mirroring a supplement scheme that already exists in Scotland.

But unlike the Carer's Allowance which is paid out by Westminster, this additional support would have to come from Stormont's block grant, which is already under significant strain.

Joanne McKee has been a full-time carer for her son Tyler since 2011.

He was diagnosed with high-functioning autism and several other conditions, so the east Belfast mum gave up work in order to care for him as she is a single parent.

Tyler is now 19 and although he attends college part-time, Miss McKee said he would never be able to live independently.

Although she is eligible for some other benefits, she feels the current level of carer's allowance falls far short.

"It just never stops, there's no down time, no sick days, no holidays - it's just constant 24/7," she told BBC News NI.

"I would invite the minister Gordon Lyons to come and spend a day with carers, to hear what we go through day to day and see what our schedules are like."

The committee was told Carers NI estimates this would cost the Northern Ireland Executive an additional £26m a year.

But Mr Harrison said it would be an important acknowledgement of the contribution carers make in Northern Ireland.

"If carers disappeared even for one day, public services would collapse," he said.

"They deserve more than a social security system that traps them in poverty, that exploits them and tells them that their around-the-clock devotion to loved ones is worth no more than pennies per hour to the state."

The Department for Communities said it recognises the "vital role" of carers.

"The primary purpose of Carer's Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment to provide regular and substantial care for someone who is ill or has a disability," a spokesperson said.

They added that the allowance increased by 6.7% in April after an annual review, and that carers can also access additional financial support through other income-related benefits.

You must be aged over 16 and spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone who is ill or has a disability.

You also must have lived in Northern Ireland for at least two of the last three years before your claim and live permanently in Northern Ireland, or live abroad as a member of the armed forces or with someone in the armed forces.

A claimant must also be living (or treated as living) in Northern Ireland when then claim and not be under immigration control.

They also must not be in full time education (21 hours or more a week)

If you are in paid work and earn more than £151 a week, you cannot get the allowance.

People who receive the allowance get the same weekly payment, even if they care for more than one person.