Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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1347. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a carer's allowance application for a person (details supplied) will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45047/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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.

I can confirm that two applications for CA were received from the person concerned on 31 July 2025.

As part of the decision process, the applications were referred for the professional opinion of a Department Medical Assessor. The first claim was disallowed in respect of the first care recipient as the Deciding Officer, having regard to the opinion of the Medical Assessor, decided that the information supplied did not show that the first care recipient required full time care.

The person concerned was awarded CA in respect of the second care recipient from 31 July 2025.

The first payment will issue to the nominated bank account of the person concerned on 04 September 2025. Arrears if due will issue shortly.

The person concerned was notified of these decisions in writing on 01 September 2025. They were also notified of their right to have these decisions reviewed (where further information is available) or to appeal these decisions to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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1349. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the contributory widows pension is taken into consideration as an criteria for eligibility for widows seeking back to school clothing and footwear allowance; and if there are plans to remove the contributory pension from being considered when seeking said benefits. [45070/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year.

In order to qualify for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, an applicant must satisfy a number of qualifying conditions, one of which requires the applicant’s household income to be within the relevant income limits. The income limits for the scheme are increased annually as part of the budget process.

The Weekly Household Income Limits for 2025 are:

The household income includes weekly social protection payments, including Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, gross income from employment, minus employees PRSI and a €20 travel allowance and any other income the household may have.

Any income from Child Benefit, Rent Supplement, Working Family Payment, Back to Work Family Dividend, Guardian’s Payments, Domiciliary Care Allowance, Blind Welfare Allowance, Foster Care Allowance and Higher-Level Education grants is not assessable. Rehabilitative employment (up to €165 per week) is also not assessable.

Any proposed changes to the means testing of the scheme would have to be considered in a wider budgetary context and within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements.