Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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133. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider raising the age limit for domiciliary care allowance to 18 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24638/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention in the home, substantially in excess of the level of care and attention normally required by a child of the same age.

DCA ceases to be payable when a child turns 16. A child may transition to Disability Allowance (DA) from age 16, even if still attending fulltime education, subject to satisfying all qualifying conditions for that scheme including certain medical criteria and a means test.

The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 includes a commitment to develop and consult on a "Strawman" proposal for the restructuring of long-term disability payments to streamline the system and take account of the concerns expressed in the "Make Work Pay for People with Disabilities (MWP) report. Many of the MWP recommendations focused on the need to support young adults through education, training and social inclusion according to their capacity, and to change the qualifying age for Disability Allowance from 16 to 18 years of age while extending the age limit for receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance to 18 years of age.

Work on the "Strawman" is at an advanced stage. It is intended to carry out a wider consultation process with all stakeholders and advocacy groups following publication.

It is imperative when deciding on any changes to social protection schemes, including changes to the age limits for the relevant scheme(s), that such changes have a positive impact on those in receipt of the payments and that any unintended consequences are avoided.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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134. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will adjust upwards the income from work that is not taken into account to qualify for disability allowance. [24298/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Disability Allowance is structured to support recipients to avail of work opportunities, be that self-employment or insurable employment.

Changes made across a range of payments in the last three budgets have targeted employment. Budget 2023 was the third successive budget that the Government has progressively increased earnings disregards, which will see people with disabilities retaining more of their payments while in employment.

The earnings disregard for recipients of Disability Allowance increased by almost 38% over the last three budgets. It is currently set at €165 per week where a person can retain the full amount of their payment. Then, between €165 and €375 a 50% taper on earnings applies. The maximum a person can earn and still keep a portion of their Disability Allowance payment is €495.10 per week .

Any further changes to the earnings disregards would have to be considered in a budgetary context.