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349. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if those in receipt of the carer’s allowance and liable to income tax have already had their weekly payments changed to reflect this; if other recipients only see this liability on their weekly income later through the year given the fear many of those who received the letter now have of a tax liability to the Revenue Commissioners …

20. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of meetings and correspondence that he and his Department have had with the Department of Finance following the announcement in January of this year that information of those in receipt of carer’s allowance would be shared with Revenue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15026/26]

30. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Social Protection to outline the timeline and expected impact of the increases to the carer’s allowance income disregards due to take effect later this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15631/26]

34. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in County Mayo claiming carers allowance; and if that number has increased or decreased over the past five years. [15141/26]

35. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Social Protection the percentage of domiciliary carer's allowance rejections that were overturned on appeal in Cork in 2025. [14269/26]

64. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason pensions and social welfare payments cannot be paid together or at the same time, with the exception of carer's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14763/26]

69. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide an update on abolishing the means test for the carer’s allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15568/26]

406. Deputy John Connolly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the rationale for treating carer’s allowance as taxable income and if he will consider reviewing the taxation status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15647/26]

710. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will review the means test for carer’s allowance, in light of concerns that the current thresholds are excluding many full-time family carers who provide essential care in the home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14573/26]

713. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason recipients, despite being required to provide at least 35 hours of care per week over five to seven days subject to DSP assessment, receive a payment that is significantly below the minimum wage for an equivalent number of hours (details supplied); if he will consider reviewing the hourly payment level of carer’s allowan…

721. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on a carers allowance application (details supplied). [14978/26]

425. Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Social Protection the specific reasons an application (details supplied) and subsequent appeals, for carer’s allowance were refused; if the applicant will receive back pay; if the person must submit a new application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13527/26]

205. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Social Protection the plans to adjust the qualifying criteria for carer's allowance so that those who care for someone for at least 30 hours per week can qualify; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12933/26]

737. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps his Department has taken in recent years to notify carers of their tax obligations in respect of carer’s allowance, particularly in view of recent changes to automatic data-sharing between his Department and the Revenue Commissioners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9337/26]

738. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection the Government’s current policy on the means test for carer’s allowance, including any specific timeline or milestones for its abolition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9340/26]

739. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department plans to publish an interdepartmental or policy review on the future of the carer’s allowance means test; the timeframe for publication; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9341/26]

749. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection when an appeal by a person (details supplied) in relation to their carer’s allowance refusal will be determined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9655/26]

769. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection if a savings disregard in relation to the means test for carers allowance is under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10408/26]

770. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has engaged with representative groups for carers in relation to their request that savings are disregarded as part of the means test for carers allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10409/26]

292. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason pensions and social welfare payments cannot be paid together or at the same time, with the exception of carers allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9096/26]

720. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 1545 of 13 January 2026, the position regarding a timeline for the phasing out of the means test for carer’s allowance as committed to in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7738/26]

721. 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. [7739/26]

736. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on plans to abolish the carers allowance means test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8266/26]

102. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is aware of cases in which a person has fraudulently claimed carer's allowance for another person who was unaware of the claim made in their name; the checks which are made with the GP who signed the form, that they are the persons own GP. [6637/26]

114. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to implement the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands 2024 recommendations regarding carers; in particular, his plans to ensure that each care-related credited contribution awarded while in receipt of carer’s benefit or carer’s allowance should have the same value and currenc…

I can do some work and come back to the Deputy on invalidity generally. As he said, there have also been increases in disability and other areas, such as carer's allowance. There is definitely no policy to discourage people from applying. It can be challenging in terms of getting the necessary medical information, in particular where a case is not as black and white as other cases may be. The appe…

11. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of paying carers who care for two or more people, based on a full carer’s allowance in respect of each person, not a half-rate for a second person. [31340/26]

There is very strong potential in solar. We are supporting ordinary people in terms of the installation of solar panels on their roofs. We created a retrofitting industry in the past five years in this country through successive investments and commitments, and that remains. On the cost of disability, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is working in consultation with stakeholder groups, to have, once…

I have no confidence in this Government. I never had confidence in this Government. Over the years, I have watched as the concerns of ordinary people and workers take a back seat so Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can please big businesses, lobbyists and vulture funds. The thing that gets to me is the unfairness of it all. Thousands of children are homeless. At the same time, we have seen this Governmen…

I echo the sentiments of Deputy Lawless on Dolores Keane. She was a truly great singer and my sympathies go to her family on her passing, which is a great loss to the country. I also pay tribute to three extraordinary Irish women who continue to lift the country's spirits, namely, Jessie Buckley, Katie Taylor and Katie McCabe. Jessie Buckley made history just days ago by becoming the first Irishwo…

It is unfair to the work of the CCPC to call it toothless. Last year, it got six convictions and its first ever criminal conviction. It is a body that can levy fines of up to €10 million. I hope, before the Deputy gets into the litany of his view about what the Government should do, that he will join with us in welcoming the fact that the CCPC, which has significant powers, has opened an urgent in…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this issue because it undoubtedly affects people in Dunleer, Togher, Drogheda and Dundalk and no doubt it also affects people the breadth of Ireland. I came in to the Chamber in October 2025 to talk about a constituency who had come to me having lost her husband a year prior. She was facing having to rear her four children, get back to work, get on with he…

I thank the Minister of State. I am heartened that he has grasped the seriousness of the situation and by the fact that he is going to raise the urgent need for this to be reviewed. Let us review it and implement it. Let us find a timeline of many months but, rather, weeks or a few months. The Minister of State has grasped the seriousness of the situation, as has the Minister, Deputy Calleary. It …

We are not in any sort of bubble. The Deputy may have his political differences with me, but the economists in the Department of Finance stand over the projections. The ESRI and the Central Bank projections, published in December are there for him to see. I have outlined, as was outlined to me, the base effect. We expect inflation to further moderate as the year goes on. The Deputy has a list of t…

Yesterday, the cross-party interest group for family carers, of which I am co-chair along with Deputy McGreehan and Senator Tully, met in the audiovisual room. We heard from family carers Angela Briggs and Matthew Murphy about the 24-7 care they provide for their loved ones. They outlined the stress some 34,000 carers went through recently and are still going through after receiving tax demand let…

Like my colleague, Deputy Wall, I raise the issue of carers. They recently received correspondence from Revenue outlining tax liabilities on their carer's payments. For many families, that did not land as a clarification but as a complete shock. We know and all accept that it is not a new policy but for us it demands action. The Tánaiste knows carers are not casual contributors to our health and s…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Child Care (Amendment) Bill before the House today. This is very important and timely legislation. I commend my colleague the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, for her work in bringing it forward. Her commitment to strengthening the child welfare and protection system has ensured this Bill reflects the realities of modern practice and the needs of children and…

First of all, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed at all in respect of the tax situation governing carers. I think we need to keep everything in perspective and not create unjustified fears because I have checked this with both the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Protection. No new tax has been introduced, but what has happened on a forward-looking basis is the Department o…

I appreciate the Deputy taking the opportunity to express sympathies on the death of his late colleague, Mickey Brady. I join in the sympathies to his wife Caroline and his family more generally. On the carers situation, I answered the Deputy's party leader earlier in respect of that. Nothing has changed. There is no additional taxation. Rather, the Government has significantly increased the incom…

There is no doubt that the Bill is needed and that the regulatory framework to which the Minister of State commits is needed. In fact, it is long overdue. I am happy to see the service providers in this area regulated. I am also happy to see HIQA applying standards and that there are safeguards for the users of the service. Likewise, the role of the chief inspector and the work to be undertaken by…

I am more interested in the food after the Pilates class. I welcome and support the Bill, which provides a registration framework for home support providers while making it an offence to operate a home support service without registration and incorporating transitional arrangements for existing home support providers. Home support providers will be required to adhere to a registration framework s…

7. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps being taken to ensure that parents who are aged 66 years and above and caring for children with lifelong disabilities retain the rate at which they are paid their carer’s allowance and concurrently receive the State pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2827/26]

I would like to talk about carers, in particular, those who are over the age of 66 and in receipt of the State pension. I ask the Minister to outline the steps that are currently being taken to ensure that parents who have, for their lifetime, cared for their children and reached the age of 66 can retain the full rate of carer's allowance and concurrently receive the State pension.

I acknowledge the work being done but, as a former family carer myself, I know full well that our carers provide an enormous service not only to their loved ones and those they care for but also to the State itself. It is estimated that each year the State saves €20 billion that would have to be invested in our health services were it not for the work of family carers. These carers work long and d…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I am a firm advocate for carers. We in society owe a huge debt for the work they do. That is why the Government is responding through supports and is on a trajectory to abolishing the means test for carer's allowance to demonstrate our support for the sector. The taxation is based on other income people may have received. The Taoiseach has …

We are not restoring once-off payments across the board. We are not going to do that but we are going to continue to support, right through every area of government, supports for people with disabilities. We are going to implement the new strategy, which was agreed with advocates and organisations that advocate for people with disabilities, in consultation with the various organisations, in partic…

Will the Deputy let me speak, please? It is not fiscally sustainable that we would have €3 billion to €4 billion every year in once-off payments across the board on needy situations. We are concentrating on embedded change in terms of domiciliary care going up by €20 per month, a 20% increase in disability services and the largest ever increase in the threshold governing the carer's allowance. Tha…

A minute or two ago, I could see the Minister become exasperated at my colleague describing this as cruel as "heartless", but it is important that she understands how this is being felt by people. When people went to their chemist or learned about this, it was very hard for them to understand why a government would come to such a decision because these blister packs are essential to people who hav…

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Conor Sheehan - To discuss punctuality issues on the 304A bus service in Limerick city. Deputy Keira Keogh - To discuss establishing an NCT centre in Erris, County Mayo. Deputy Mark Wall - To discuss the lack of school places in Sc…

Deputy Smyth is a representative of a Border constituency, the same as I am, so she will very much understand this particular issue. A constituent of mine called Majella contacted me. She was born in Leitrim and lived there practically all of her life. She started her career working in the health services. Then she married a man from Fermanagh and moved six miles up the road. She continued to cros…