A social welfare payment will be increased to €1700 per month as eligibility criteria has been widened for the bonus.
The Carer’s Allowance income disregard will increase by €625 for a single person and €1,250 for a couple, from July 2025.
This means that applicants can earn more before being excluded from the eligibility criteria for the social welfare benefit.
The payment has also been hiked by €12 from January 1, with proportional increases for qualified adults and people on reduced rates of payment.
Carer’s Allowance is a weekly social welfare payment to people who care for someone because of their:
To qualify for the payment, your income must be below a certain amount. If you care for 2 or more people, your rate of Carer’s Allowance is increased by 50% (maximum) each week. If you get another social welfare payment, you may get half-rate Carer’s Allowance.
Criteria
You can get Carer’s Allowance if you care full-time for someone who is:
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Aged 16 or over, and who is so incapacitated that they need full-time care and attention for at least 12 months, or
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Aged under 16, and for whom you get Domiciliary Care Allowance.
As well as providing full-time care, you must:
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Be aged 18 or over
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Be habitually resident in Ireland
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Not be employed, self-employed, doing voluntary work, training, or any education courses for more than 18.5 hours a week
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Not live in a hospital, convalescent home, or a similar institution
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Pass a means test
What counts as full-time care?
To get Carer’s Allowance, you must care full-time for someone who is:
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Aged 16 or over, and who is so incapacitated that they need full-time care and attention for at least 12 months, or
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Aged 16 or over, and who is so incapacitated that they need full-time care and attention for at least 12 months, or
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Aged under 16, and for whom you get Domiciliary Care Allowance.
Full-time care means:
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You continuously supervise the person so they don’t put themselves in danger, or
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You continuously supervise and assist the person throughout the day with personal care (for example, helping them to eat, drink, get washed and dressed).
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You must care for them at least 35 hours per week, over 5-7 days.
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