Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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417. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for a breakdown, by county, of the number of times persons in receipt of carer's allowance had their allowance stopped in each of the past ten years, and to date in 2024. [21678/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that, as a result, they require that level of care.

In order to qualify, applicants must show that they are habitually resident in the State, that their means are less than the statutory limit, that they are providing full-time care and attention, and that the person being cared for requires that level of care.

Please see table below for a breakdown, by county, of the number of times persons in receipt of CA had their allowance stopped in each of the past ten years, and to date in 2024.

A payment for CA may stop if a customer no longer meets the eligibility criteria for the scheme. This may follow a notification from the customer or be the result of a review of eligibility initiated by my Department.

The following are examples of some of the reasons that would result in a CA payment being stopped:

• The person requiring care has been admitted to a Nursing Home / Hospital
• The carer is no longer providing full time care
• The carer has returned to work in excess of 18.5 hours per week
• The carer failed to supply the required information to establish continued entitlement to CA
• The carer or the care recipient is deceased
• The means of the carer are in excess of the statutory limit
• The carer is no longer resident in the state
• The care recipient no longer meets the medical criteria