Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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1407. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of families and the the number of children that received the newborn baby grant, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46769/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Child Benefit becomes payable in respect of newborn babies in the month after their birth, subject to the qualifying conditions.

As part of Budget 2025, a new-born baby grant of €280 was introduced.  This is paid to families of babies born, or children with a date of placement, on or after 1 December 2024 in addition to their regular first month’s Child Benefit payment of €140.

The table below outlines a breakdown by county of the number of new-born baby grants.  This data is for grants paid or payable up to 2nd September 2025.

Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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1408. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of carers that qualify for the carer’s allowance in the wake of changes to income disregards, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46770/25]

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.

There have been several significant improvements made to the means test for CA in recent years.  As a result of a 2025 Budget measure, the weekly income disregard increased from €450 to €625 for a single person, and from €900 to €1,250 for carers with a spouse/partner.  These changes represent a total increase of €292.50 for single people and €585 for couples since June 2022.

At the end of June 2025, there were 100,798 persons in receipt of CA. By the end of July 2025, this figure had increased to 101,580.  However, it is not possible to determine how many new claims were solely due to the changes to the income disregards.  CA has a number of eligibility criteria, all of which must be met in order for a claim to be awarded.  It should also be noted that these figures do not take account of any CA claims closed during the month of July.

The table below, by county, shows the for the number in receipt of CA at end of June and again at end of July.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.