Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government acknowledges the valuable role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy.

The main income supports to carers provided by my department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Spending on these payments is expected to amount to over €1.7 billion this year.

Eligibility for Carer’s Allowance involves satisfying a means test. Means tests are an essential component of our social welfare system - they help to direct scarce resources to where they are needed most.

Abolition of the means test for Carer's Allowance would give rise to additional costs of at least €600m per year. Taking account of the number of carers in Census 2022, this could increase to between €880m and €2bn a year. At this level, the removal of the means test would have a significant impact on the funding available for other schemes and services. It is also worth noting that abolition of the means test would be of no benefit to those carers who rely solely on the payment and have no additional income.

Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of significant improvements to the means test for Carer's Allowance:

• Budget 2022 saw the first changes to the means test in 14 years when the income disregards were increased from €332.50 to €350 for a single person, and from €665 to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner. The capital and savings disregard for the Carer’s Allowance means assessment was also increased from €20,000 to €50,000. It is important to note that this equates to €100,000 in the case of a couple.
• As part of Budget 2024, the weekly income disregards were further increased from €350 to €450 for a single person, and from €750 to €900 for carers with a spouse/partner.

Last Tuesday, as part of Budget 2025, I further increased the income disregards to €625 for a single person and to €1,250 for carers with a spouse/partner.

Since June 2022, this amounts to cumulative increases to the disregards of €292.50 for a single carer and €585.00 for a carer who is part of couple. These are the highest weekly disregards in the Social Welfare system.

These recent changes to the means test will enable more carers on a reduced rate to move to a higher payment. Additionally, many carers who previously did not qualify for a payment due to their means will be brought into the Carer's Allowance system for the first time.

It is also important to acknowledge that there are a range of other supports for carers provided by my department which are not based on a means assessment.

The Carer’s Support Grant is a payment for all carers, even those not in receipt of Carer’s Allowance. It can be claimed by carers regardless of their means or social insurance contributions. The grant can be used by carers in a manner which they see fit. It is paid in respect of each care recipient. In Budget 2025, I increased this grant by €150, bringing it to €2,000, its highest ever rate. Over 132,000 carers received the grant in June, at a cost of €275 million.

Carer's Benefit is based on social insurance contributions. It is a very effective payment made to insured people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person in need of full-time care. It is payable for a period of up to two years for each care recipient and is estimated to cost almost €58 million in 2024. In Budget 2025, I have extended eligibility for this payment to the self-employed for the first time.

Domiciliary Care Allowance is payable to a parent or guardian in respect of a child who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age. As part of Budget 2025, I’ve increased this payment by a further €20 bringing it to €360 per month. This monthly payment has increased cumulatively by €50.50 under this Government. Expenditure in 2024 is estimated to be almost €274 million.

Any further changes or improvements to the carer payments provided by my department, including the Carer’s Allowance payment, would need to be considered in an overall budgetary and policy context.

I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.