As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of assessment, the Principal Act is amended -

(a) in Chapter 1 of Part 15 by the insertion of the following section after section 466:

"466A. Home carer's allowance.

(1) In this section -

'appropriate percentage', in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year;

'dependent person', in relation to a qualifying claimant, means a person (other than the spouse of the qualifying claimant) who, subject to subsection (3), resides with that qualifying claimant and who is -

(a) a child in respect of whom either the qualifying claimant or his or her spouse is, at any time during a year of assessment, in receipt of child benefit under Part IV of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, or

(b) an individual who, at any time during a year of assessment, is of the age of 65 years or over, or

(c) an individual who is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity;

'qualifying claimant', in relation to a year of assessment, means an individual -

(a) who is assessed to tax for that year in accordance with section 1017, and

(b) who, or whose spouse, (in this section referred to as the 'carer spouse') is engaged during that year in caring for one or more dependent persons;