To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what steps are being taken to ensure that older carers are made aware of the support structures available to help them; and that they are offered a carer's assessment.

Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts have a statutory duty under the Carers and Direct Payments Act (NI) 2002 to make information regarding a carer’s right to an assessment widely available and to inform individuals of all ages directly of that right, where it appears to the Trust that an individual is carrying out that role. In doing so, all HSC Trusts have been able to demonstrate to my Department that information packs are made available to people who appear to the Trust to be carrying out a caring role.

You may also be aware that my Department collects figures on the number of carers’ assessments that are offered, and subsequently declined or completed, across the HSC on a quarterly basis. My officials use this data to analyse the performance across all HSC Trusts. With a view to driving improvements in this area, a new target was established in the Commissioning Plan Direction for 2014/15, requiring HSC Trusts to secure by 31 March 2015 a 10% increase in the number of carers’ assessments offered, as compared to the previous year.