Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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130. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether his Department will consider amending the rules governing the carer's allowance to permit people who are in receipt of a State Pension and who are providing full-time care to another pensioner to receive the full rate of carer's allowance, rather than the current reduced payment; whether he acknowledges that many older carers are struggling to make ends meet due to the increased cost of living while providing full-time care; whether the adequacy of current supports for this cohort has been reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52066/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The main income supports to carers provided by my department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Spending in 2026 is expected to amount to over €2.2 billion on these payments.

In general, people are only eligible for one social welfare payment at any time to meet a particular contingency. However, in recognition of the vital role of caring, an important exception applies. Where a person is receiving a full-time social welfare payment such as the State Pension and is also providing full-time care for at least 35 hours per week, they may receive up to half the Carer’s Allowance rate in addition to their primary payment. This arrangement applies across almost all weekly social welfare payments.

At the end of 2025, there were 49,234 carers benefiting from these arrangements. Of these, approximately 14,500 were receiving a State Pension (Contributory) or State Pension (Non-contributory).

This means that a person in receipt of Carer’s Allowance who qualifies for the full State Pension (Contributory) on reaching age 66 and retains a half-rate Carer’s Allowance could see their payment increase from €270 a week to a combined pension and carer's payment of €453.30 per week.

The Government is committed to supporting carers and the main focus is the process of phasing out the means test, which is well underway. Last week, the weekly income disregard increased from €625 to €1,000 for a single person and from €1,250 to €2,000 for carers who are part of couple.

The Programme for Government commitments in relation to carer's will continue to be advanced over the lifetime of the Government, having regard to the overall policy and budgetary context.