Thousands of Irish qualify for €447 social welfare cash & MORE eligible for ‘maximum rate' in major new scheme expansion
And the major
Advertisement
1
More people will qualify for the Carer's Allowance payment under the new expansion of the scheme
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
The weekly income disregard for the
This means the first €625 of a single person's weekly income and €900 of a couple's weekly income will not be taken into account when applying for the means-tested payment.
The reform to the income disregard is expected to take effect from Thursday.
Cash income, capital and maintenance payments are all assessed by the Department of Social Protection as part of the means test.
Advertisement
READ MORE IN MONEY
However, the changes to the means test, which will take effect this week, means a person will still be able to qualify for the payment even if they are earning over €450 from other income each week.
And the move means that a whopping 99 per cent of people receiving
Carer's Allowance maximum weekly payment is €260 for a carer aged under 66 that is caring for one person, and €390 for a person aged under 66 that is caring for two or more people.
Carer's aged 66 or over who are caring for one person can receive a maximum payment of €298 each week while those who are caring for two people or more and are aged under 66 can claim €447.
Advertisement
MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN
Breaking
Little known social welfare benefits thousands are entitled to
In addition to this, it is expected that many more carers will now qualify for the payment for the first time under the higher income limits.
Deputy O'Shea described the move announced in Budget 2025, as a "positive change", but said the government "needs to go further".
He said: "There have been significant changes to the Carers Allowance means test in recent years with the income disregard increased by €292.50 for a single person and €585 for a couple since 2022.
Advertisement
'It has been confirmed to me that the further increase in the income limits this week will mean that 99 per cent of people receiving Carer's Allowance will now receive the maximum rate of payment.
'In addition, these changes will mean that many more carers who were previously outside the income limits will now qualify for a payment.
STILL TIME TO APPLY FOR €2,000 BOOST
THE Carer's Support Grant increased to €2,000 - its highest level ever - last month.
The non taxable and non means tested payment had been €1,850 in previous years, but was upped by €150 for 2025.
The payment was given to those already receiving the Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit and the Domiciliary Care Allowance.
Those who believe they may
You can apply for a Carer's Support Grant for any given year from April of that year until 31 December of the following year.
This means you can
'Our carers play a vital role in our society and we need to support them. This is a welcome step, but we need to go further.
"The Programme for Government commits to phasing out the means test entirely during the lifetime of this Government."
Advertisement
O'Shea called on Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary to build on the "strong work" in this area in recent years and outline a road map for phasing out the means test altogether.
She said: "This is not the final step, but real progress towards Fianna Fáil's commitment to abolish the means test for Carer's Allowance.
"I look forward to working closely with the Minister to continue strengthening support for our careers in the future."
Advertisement
Minister Calleary said: "The Programme for Government is ambitious for carers. Importantly, we will continue to significantly increase the income disregards for Carer's Allowance in each Budget with a view to phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the government."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Revenue seeks to wind up Dublin accountancy firm
Murlyn Accountants is controlled by Adrian O'Lionscaigh. In recent months, he has been attempting to assist a number of Chinese nationals to recoup a total of €9m they ploughed into an Irish construction company that was building social housing units. A notice in the official state gazette Iris Oifigiúil on Tuesday states that a petition was filed by the Revenue Commissioners on June 13. The petition against Murlyn Accountants is due to be heard before the High Court on July 14. 'Any creditor or contributory of the said company who wishes to support or oppose the making of an order on the said petition may appear at the time of hearing by himself or his counsel for that purpose,' the notice said. Mr O'Lionscaigh has been asked for comment. Murlyn Accountants is owned by UK-based H And H Avalon Holdings which is listed as being dormant and Mr O'Lionscaigh is listed as its only director. A compulsory strike-off notice was issued for H and H Avalon Holdings last year, but the process was suspended in October following opposition to the move. In December last year, the company's address was changed by the UK's Registrar of Companies to the Companies House head office in Cardiff. The company secretary of Murlyn Accountants is Danni Zeng. She is also involved in another Irish accountancy firm co-founded by Mr O'Lionscaigh, Dublin-based PLZ Accountants, which is not affected by or subject to the petition by the Revenue Commissioners. The last set of publicly available accounts for Murlyn Accountants, which are for 2023, show that it had fixed assets of almost €272,000 at the end of that year, including debtors of almost €230,000. It owed just over €175,000 to creditors. It was reported earlier this year that seven of nine Chinese nationals who invested €9m into Meath-based Trinity Homes between 2018 and 2022 have turned to Mr O'Lionscaigh in an effort to secure the return of their funds. The money was invested by the Chinese nationals as part of the Irish Government's now defunct Immigrant Investor Programme, which allowed foreign nationals to secure residency in Ireland for a fixed period if they made qualifying investments.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Denis O'Brien-led delegation calling for slavery reparations to Caribbean countries meets MEPs in Brussels
Irish businessman Denis O'Brien has led a delegation to Brussels of his Repair Campaign, which is lobbying for former colonial powers in Europe to make reparations for the damage caused by slavery in the Caribbean.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Over 30 jobs to go as Swiss insurance firm pulls out of Dublin
The company said it had decided to put a stronger focus on its core insurance and pensions business in Switzerland. La Mobilière founded the Dublin-based insurtech Companjon five years ago, with the stated aim of opening a new line of business and to get insights into the behaviour of customers in the digital insurance business. Operating on a largely business-to-business model, its insurance policies were embedded in the operations of other companies. When consumers bought goods such as tickets for sporting events, and the seller asked if they wanted to insure the purchase, that type of insurance product was provided by Companjon. Company sources say that as a result of the complex nature of the operations, it will take a couple of years to wind down its offices at Harbourmaster Place in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin's docklands. 'Not everyone will lose their job straight away. The workforce will be slowly reduced,' one source said. The Department of Enterprise has been informed about the planned redundancies, and consultations began between management and staff yesterday. In a statement, La Mobilière CEO Michèle Rodoni said: 'After gaining several years of experience with embedded insurance abroad and recently developing a new corporate strategy, we came to the conclusion that the further development and scaling of this business area is not in line with our strategic focus on the core business in Switzerland.' The existing embedded insurance policies, the vast majority of which have short-term liabilities, are to be be run off, subject to appropriate approvals being received from the Irish authorities. Companjon has a total workforce of 60 employees with 34 in Dublin and the remaining 26 based around Europe. Helen Nolan, who is chair of Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland, has been a non-executive director at Companjon Insurance DAC, and chaired its audit committee. Other Irish directors included Patrick Manley and Mary Kerrigan. In its most recent financial returns, Companjon recorded a loss before tax of €2.879m for the financial year ended December 31, 2022, with a loss before tax of €10.25m. It said that during 2023, the company had commenced business operations with three new business partners and has successfully concluded contractual negotiations with a new business partner which was due to go live in 2024. "The directors expect the general level of activity of the company to increase further as the existing Companjon Group insurance solutions are made available on an increased number of online transactions and are rolled out to further markets, and as new business partners are onboarded, and new insurance solutions are launched,' the accounts said. "The directors regard investment in this area as a prerequisite for success in the medium to long-term future.' La Mobilière, which was founded as a co-op in 1826, boasts that it is Switzerland's oldest private insurance company. It has 6,600 employees in its home markets of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and a further 350 trainees.
