Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

------provided. Anyway, I will go back to what I am supposed to be answering here. To give the Deputy an example, a mother has two children aged 13 and eight and she is a carer for one of them. She currently receives carer's allowance with increases for her children that total €348 per week. That is a real example. Her weekly child support payment has increased by €8 for her older child and €4 for her younger child as a result of the budget. The total benefits to this mother post budget 2025 will be an annual increase of €2,906, so this budget has improved the situation for carers. As I said, income limits were increased in July, which is only three months ago, and this is already having a positive impact. There is a process we have to go through. The Department will engage with carers regarding the increased limits I have now announced and that work starts now. Over 90% of carers are already on the maximum rate of carer's allowance. I cannot pay carers for the work they do. That is why I have set up a working group to look at all these issues. It is going to report back before the end of the year, because this is something we want to deal with.

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