Matt Carthy
Question:153. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Social Protection his proposed timeframe for abolishing the means test for carers allowance applicants. [62133/25]
View answerThursday, 13 November 2025
Questions (153)
Written answers
The Programme for Government clearly sets 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.
Phasing out the means test is a major change to the Carer's Allowance and to the Irish social welfare system generally. It is important that we make progress in a way that is sustainable, and which does not unduly limit our scope to support other vulnerable groups.
This process is well underway. The latest change was in July this year when the amount of weekly earnings disregarded increased to €625 for a single person and €1,250 for a couple.
Last month, 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 increase by 60% from €625 to €1,000 for a single person, and from €1,250 to €2,000 for carers who are part of couple.
Since June 2022, this will bring cumulative increases to the disregards to €667.50 for a single carer and to €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 disregards. They will mean that even someone considered to be on a relatively high income 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 Carer’s Allowance payment and even with an income of €138,000 will retain a partial payment.
The disregards for Carer’s Allowance are now by far the highest income disregards in the social welfare system, higher than those for any other weekly payment.
The latest changes are evidence of the Government’s determination to deliver on its commitment to eliminate the means test over our term. We will continue to do so in a progressive manner as part of the annual budget process.
I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.