2033. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of eliminating the means test for the carer’s allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61622/26]

The Carer’s Allowance is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers. Expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2026 is estimated to exceed €1.4 billion. There are currently more than 109,000 carers receiving this payment.

The Programme for Government 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 this Government.

This process is well underway. As part of Budget 2026, and with effect from July, the weekly income disregard increased 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. This means that virtually all those currently in receipt of Carer's Allowance are in receipt of the maximum rate available to them.

The Department has previously estimated a cost of approximately €600 million to abolish the Carer’s Allowance means test. This is based on administrative data. However, this cost increases to a potential €3 billion per annum if everyone who self-declared as a carer in Census 2022 were to qualify. It is acknowledged that the latter figure is a high-level estimate only.

Removing the means test represents a significant shift in policy direction and there may be further implications above the cost exposure. For this reason the income disregard is being abolished in a measured way over a number of Budgets.