Assistance for parents of persons with severe disabilities

Parents who are unable to work to care for a child with a disability, over the age of 16, will be receiving a payment of €300 once a year. Eligible parents are those who are not working and living in the same household as the person with a disability who are over 16 years of age and who receive Increased Severe Disability Assistance.

The grant is paid in full once a year and is not on a pro-rata basis. When the eligible parent reaches retirement age, the entitled parent will continue to receive the Carer’s Grant.

The first payments will be issued on March 13, 2021 and will continue to be issued until December of this year, until each entitled beneficiary is paid. So far around €115,000 in payments have been issued, of which 383 parents have benefited. New prospective beneficiaries will be paid as from April onwards.

In the event that the child receives the Increased Severe Disability Assistance and is living in an institution, the carer’s grant will not be paid. Parents do not need to apply as all information on who is eligible is available by the Department of Social Security.

The Minister for Social Justice and Solidarity, the Family and Children’s Right Michael Falzon said that this is a clear example of how this government continues to create new measures and incentives to help the vulnerable and their families, with facts and not just words.

Minister Michael Falzon said that this is another measure of the 2021 Budget which has been implemented and that it builds on the reform in the mechanisms and payments of the Carer’s Allowances in 2017. During the same year the Increased Carers Allowance was introduced, replacing the ‘Wens’ Pension. The mechanism for assessing a patient has also changed, and the Barthel Index and the Mini Mental State Examination have been introduced. As a result, the number of beneficiaries has increased.

Meanwhile, Increased Severe Disability Assistance started to be paid for the first time in 2017 and as promised, the weekly rate continued to rise to the equivalent of the Net National Minimum Wage.