Care Services

11. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of additional persons who have qualified for carer’s allowance since the increase in the weekly income disregard took effect in July 2026 nationally and in Meath West. [67566/26]

I ask the Minister about the number of additional persons who have qualified for the carer's allowance since the increase in the weekly income disregard that took effect nationally in July 2026, and more particularly, in Meath West.

The carer's allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment for people who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who requires such care. There are a number of qualifying conditions for carer’s allowance. These include conditions relating to the care recipient's need for full-time care and attention, the provision of that care by the applicant, the applicant’s employment or education circumstances, residency requirements and satisfaction of the means test. As part of budget 2026, I announced significant improvements to the carer's allowance means test, which took effect from 2 July 2026. 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 a couple. The Department does not hold the detailed data on the income of each individual household in the State that would allow it to identify the number of additional people who qualified specifically as a result of the increase in the income disregard. Furthermore, statistics on carer's allowance recipients' are not compiled on a constituency basis and, therefore, I cannot give direct information for Meath West. Information is, however, available on the direct impact of the changes on existing recipients. Following the increase in the income disregard in July 2026, approximately 2,700 carer's allowance recipients benefited from an increase in the weekly rate of payment. The overall number of people receiving carer's allowance at the end of August 2026 was 110,808. That compared to 97,985 in December 2024, and 104,522 in 2025. Much of that can be attributed to the increase in the means disregard. However, we also have to have an eye to the demographic and care changes in the State. The total number of recipients reflects new claims coming into payment and also claims which are completed or ceased where caring responsibilities may end. Recipient numbers are continuing to increase due to broader demographic and social factors. I assure the Deputy we recognise the invaluable contribution being made by family carers.

I thank the Minister for his response. It is unfortunate that we cannot get the figures but I totally understand the reasons behind that. There has been a significant increase in the number of applications and I am glad to see that. It is a positive and important development for the families across Meath West and nationally who are caring for older people or people with disabilities. I do not want to reduce any of them to numbers or money but we have to recognise - and I know the Minister does - that they are saving the State a huge amount of money by providing vital care for their loved ones. I really feel we are recognising that and we are going to deliver on our commitment in the programme for Government to completely abolish the means test. In the past couple of years we have made significant steps. Will there be another national social media or media campaign to highlight to the busiest people in our society, these carers who are potentially holding down part-time work and fulfilling other responsibilities, the progress we have made here? I encourage the Minister to keep up the good work in this area.

I thank the Deputy. That is a very good suggestion. When we complete our budget negotiations, it would be useful to remind people that a single person working as a carer can have an income of up to €1,000 per week and a couple, €2,000, and still be in receipt of a full carer’s payment. In the context of the carer's support grant, I made the point earlier to Deputy Healy that we paid the annual grant as always on the first Thursday of June. It was a record amount this year. In the two or three months since June, an additional 5,000 payments have been made. I had a conversation with Deputy Hayes earlier about awareness-building generally around the accessibility of the social protection system. That is something I am going to be focused on in the winter and as soon as we have clarity around what the budget rates for 2027 will be. In the context of changing means but also demographic and social changes and the implementation on the ground of more community-based care, there is a lot more interest in the carer’s allowance. We will provide people with that necessary information.