Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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380. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection where, in the event of a person having money in a pension fund that is paying a monthly pension, the capital sum is invested, or the sum of the pension being paid that is assessed for carer’s allowance, disability allowance and State pension (non-contributory) payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40987/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Social welfare legislation provides that means tests take account of the income and assets of the person (and their spouse or partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme. The means assessment includes income from sources such as employment, self-employment, and occupational pensions. It also includes property owned, other than the family home, and capital such as savings, shares, and other investments.

The assessment of capital reflects an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of capital and property are in a position to use that capital, or to release the value of the property, to support themselves without having to rely solely on a means-tested welfare payment.

Most social protection schemes have a general capital disregard, meaning the full amount of the capital is not assessed.

In the case of the means assessment for a personal rate of Carer's Allowance and Disability Allowance, the first €50,000 of capital an applicant holds is fully disregarded; the next €10,000 is assessed at €1 per thousand, the next €10,000 is assessed at €2 per thousand, with the remainder assessed at €4 per thousand.

In the case of the means assessment for a personal rate of the State Pension (Non-contributory), the first €20,000 (€40,000 for a couple) of capital an applicant holds is fully disregarded; the next €10,000 is assessed at €1 per thousand, the next €10,000 is assessed at €2 per thousand, with the remainder assessed at €4 per thousand.

The value of a pension fund is only assessable as means when the customer has access to the fund. Any benefits in the form of regular payments or a lump sum payment will be assessed as means. Where a pension lump sum is received, operational practice is to assess this as capital. The value of any cash otherwise available from a pension fund will be assessed on the basis of the capital valuation of that fund.

Any changes to this would have to be considered in the overall policy context.