John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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801. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline the roadmap for phasing out the carer's allowance means test, as committed to in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23772/25]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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818. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans for phasing out the means test relating to the carer's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24011/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 801 and 818 together.

The Government is very aware of the key role that family carers play in Irish society and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role.

The Carer's Allowance is the main scheme by which my department provides income support to carers in the community. There are currently 99,421 people in receipt of Carer's Allowance. Expenditure in 2025 is estimated to be over €1.24 billion.

The primary objective of the Carer’s Allowance payment is to provide an income support to people whose earning capacity is substantially reduced because they cannot work full-time due to their caring responsibilities. Carer’s Allowance is means-tested to target the support to those most in need.

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

There have been a number of significant changes made to the Carer’s Allowance means test in recent years. From July, there will be a further increase which will see the weekly income disregard rise from €450 to €625 for a single person, and from €900 to €1,250 for carers with a spouse or partner. This amounts to cumulative increases to the disregards of €292.50 and €585 respectively since June 2022.

These increases make the scheme accessible to more people and may increase payment rates for those currently on a reduced rate. They mean that a carer in a two-adult household with an income of approximately €69,000 will still retain their full Carers payment and even with an income of €97,000 will retain a partial payment.

Finally, it should be noted that my department also provides other supports for carers which are not based on a means assessment. These include the Carer’s Support Grant, Carer’s Benefit and Domiciliary Care Allowance.

I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.