Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for sharing that story. I should say that the domiciliary care allowance, DCA, is not means-tested but the carer's allowance is. I would love it if it were possible for there to be no means tests but unfortunately they are necessary because financial resources, even in a very wealthy country, are limited. However, sometimes means tests are too mean and when knocking on doors over the summer I came across a number of examples where people have lost eligibility for the carer's allowance or a student grant because they got a pay increase, a promotion or worked overtime. That is not fair and we must take that into account across the budget so means test thresholds are realistic. As wages, rise, the thresholds should rise too.

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