Written answer
Social Welfare Schemes
The Government is phasing out the Carer’s Allowance means test, estimated to cost €600 million annually, or potentially €3 billion if all self-declared carers qualified.
767. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 1545 of 13 January 2026, the approximate financial cost to the State of removing the means test for carers allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64993/26]
Comment on this
794. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of abolishing the means test for carer’s allowance and providing access to all who meet the other criteria. [65829/26]
Comment on this
I propose to take Questions Nos. 767 and 794 together.
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. At the end of August there were just under 111,000 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. Since July, an estimated 2,700 carers have received an increase in their Carer’s Allowance payment as a result of these changes. The disregards for Carer’s Allowance remain, by far the highest income disregards in the social welfare system, higher than those for any other weekly payment.
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 year 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 beyond cost alone. For this reason the income disregard is being abolished in a measured way over a number of Budgets.
Any further improvements to the means test will be considered as part of the annual budgetary process, having regard to overall welfare priorities.