Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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264. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to carers who did not benefit from changes to income thresholds in Budget 2026; the actions he will take to support this cohort with the increased costs that they are facing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56296/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Carer’s Allowance is the main scheme by which my department provides income support to carers in the community. There are currently almost 103,000 people in receipt of this payment and projected expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2025 is over €1.24 billion.

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.

Recent progress was made at the start of July when 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. As a result of these changes approximately 98.4% of carers are in payment at the maximum rate of payment, either full or half rate.

Just last week, as part of Budget 2026, I announced further improvements to the Carer’s Allowance means test that will be introduced next year. For carers who work, the weekly income disregard will be increased by 60% from €625 to €1,000 for a single person, and from €1,250 to €2,000 for carers with a spouse/partner/co-habitant. Since June 2022, this will amount to cumulative increases to the disregards of €667.50 for a single carer and €1,335 for a carer who is part of couple, or an increase of just over 200%.

These are the largest ever increases in the Carer’s Allowance income disregard and will mean that even people with what are considered to be relatively high incomes will qualify for a carer’s payment for the first time. For example, a carer in a two-adult household with an income of approximately €110,000 will still retain their full Carers payment and even with an income of €138,000 will retain a partial payment. These changes are evidence of the Government’s determination to deliver on its commitment in the Programme for Government to eliminate the means test over the life of this Government.

It is important to note that my department also provides a range of non-means-tested payments to carers, all of which have seen recent improvements. These include Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance, and the Carer’s Support Grant.

As part of Budget 2026, the Carer’s Benefit earnings limit will increase by a further €375 to €1,000 from July next year and the payment rate will increase by €10 per week from January.

Domiciliary Care Allowance increased by €20 to €360 per month in January as part of Budget 2025 measures. From next January, as part of Budget 2026 measures, the payment will increase by a further €20 to €380 per month.

With effect from June 2025, the Carer’s Support Grant increased by €150 to €2,000, the highest rate since its introduction.

I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.