Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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683. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when it is proposed to increase the means threshold for carer's allowance; the amount it will increase by; and the date on which the changes will come into effect. [17408/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is very aware of the key role that family carers play in Irish society and the challenges they face and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role.

There have been a number of significant improvements made to the income thresholds in the means test for Carer’s Allowance in recent years. As part of Budget 2025, the weekly income disregard will increase in July from €450 to €625 for a single person, and from €900 to €1,250 for carers with a spouse or partner.

Since June 2022, this amounts to cumulative increases to the disregards of €292.50 for a single carer and €585 for a carer who is part of couple.

The Programme for Government has set out a timeline which commits to significantly further increasing the income disregards for Carer’s Allowance in each Budget with a view to gradually phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the Government.

I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.