Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

The carer's allowance is the main scheme by means of which my Department provides income supports to carers in every community. As the Deputy will be aware, more than 100,000 people are in receipt of carer's allowance. Expenditure on the scheme in the current year is estimated to be more than €1.24 billion. Carer’s allowance provides an income support to people whose earning capacity is substantially reduced because they cannot work full time due to their caring responsibilities. It is means tested to target the support to those most in need.

In the programme for Government, we set out an ambition to significantly increase the income disregards for carer’s allowance with a view to phasing out the means test entirely during the lifetime of this Government. A number of significant changes have been made to the carer’s allowance means test in recent years. From 3 July, there will be further increases that will see the weekly income disregards rise from €450 to €625 for a single person and from €900 to €1,250 for carers with a spouse or partner. This amounts to cumulative increases to the disregards of €292.50 and €585 weekly since June 2022. From July, carers in a two-adult household with an income of approximately €69,000 will still retain their full carer's payment. Even with an income of €97,000, they will retain a partial payment. These increases have made the scheme accessible to many more people and may increase payment rates for those currently on a reduced rate.

It is important that we make progress in a way that is sustainable and that balances the allocation of available budgetary resources. That is why we have committed to a measured and phased approach over a number of budgets. We are beginning our work on budget 2026 in the Department, and this will be a priority I intend to achieve over the lifetime of the Government.

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