Thousands qualify for €429 weekly payment as rules change on income

Thousands more people qualify for a weekly social welfare payment worth up to €429 as new income rules have been confirmed.

The Carer’s Allowance income disregard will increase to €450 for a single person and €900 for a couple from June 2024, reports RSVP Live.

That means people can earn more money before being excluded from eligibility for the social welfare benefit.

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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 two or more people, your rate of payment increases by 50 per cent (maximum) each week.

If you get another social welfare payment, you may get Carer’s Allowance at a half-rate.

Criteria

You can get Carer’s Allowance if you care full-time for someone who is:

• Aged 16 or over, and who is so incapacitated that they need full-time care and attention for at least 12 months, or

• Aged under 16, and for whom you get Domiciliary Care Allowance.

As well as providing full-time care, you must:

• Be aged 18 or over

• Be habitually resident in Ireland

• Not be employed, self-employed, doing voluntary work, training, or any education courses for more than 18.5 hours a week

• Not live in a hospital, convalescent home, or a similar institution

• Pass a means test

What counts as full-time care?

Full-time care means:

• You continuously supervise the person so they don’t put themselves in danger, or

• You continuously supervise and assist the person throughout the day with personal care (for example, helping them to eat, drink, get washed and dressed).

• You must care for them at least 35 hours per week, over 5-7 days.

The Department of Social Protection will decide if you are providing full-time care.

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