Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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704. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider increasing the means test threshold for the disability allowance in line with the changes made to carer's allowance in Budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62992/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Over the last five budgets the Government has progressively improved payment rates and income disregards for disabled people. The weekly payment rates for Disability Allowance have increased by €51 in that time. From January 2026 the maximum personal rate of payment will be €254 per week.

The earnings disregard has increased by almost 38% since Budget 2021 from €120 to €165 currently. This enables those in receipt of Disability Allowance to earn more without having a negative impact on their means tested payment. It means that people can earn up to €165 per week and keep their payment in full and can earn up to €517.60 per week and keep a small portion of their payment.

Any further changes will have to be considered in a budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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705. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will review the age cut-off of seven for the one-parent family payment, in light of the continued care and financial needs of one-parent households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62993/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Between 2012 and 2015 a reform of lone parent supports reduced the qualifying age for One-Parent Family Payment from 18 to 7 years and introduced the Jobseekers Transitional payment for lone parents whose youngest child is aged 7 to 13 years inclusive.

Both One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment are comprised of the same weekly personal rate and a Child Support Payment for each child in the household. Neither payment requires the customer to demonstrate that they are seeking employment; however, it is a requirement for recipients of Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment to engage with the Department's Intreo service. There is no such requirement for recipients of One-Parent Family Payment. This policy seeks to increase lone parents access to education and employment supports and encourage engagement with the workforce as their child ages.

Research on the impact of the reforms has shown a positive effect. ESRI analysis of the reduction of the qualifying age for One-Parent Family Payment from 18 years to 7 years found that the reforms led to an increase in the average hours worked of lone parents of between two and five hours per week, and lone parents impacted by the policy were 13 percentage points more likely to be working. In addition, they found an increase in household income of between 9% and 12%, and an increase of between 23% and 29% in earnings from employment. Finally, the policy was associated with a 10–14 percentage point reduction in the poverty rate of lone parents.

Extending One-Parent Family Payment beyond the seventh birthday of the child would have the effect of delaying the interaction of affected customers with the Department’s Intreo services. The primary aim of the current system is to reduce long-term welfare dependency, and associated poverty, among lone parents, and to improve their access to education, training, and employment support services. Improved access to these services will enhance their skills-set and job-readiness, thereby assisting with their transition into the workforce, and with their subsequent attainment of financial independence.

For these reasons, I have no proposals to change the position at this time.