Social Welfare Payments
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Catherine Callaghan (FG), Carlow-Kilkenny

That is very heartening to hear, and I look forward to working together to ensure that the commitments in the programme for Government are advanced.
While I am here, I would like to raise the immense financial strains carers often find themselves under in spite of the services they provide. In a recent survey, 69% of carers reported having difficulty making ends meet and, of those, 29% have begun cutting back on essentials such as food and heating. Some 39% of all carers live in households with a combined total income of less than €30,000 per annum, so the financial challenges that come with being a carer, particularly in older age, must be addressed head-on. The Minister has mentioned the ambition that has been shown in supporting our carers through an increased domiciliary care allowance, which I acknowledge. He has outlined the increased welfare payments that started this month. I know that this Government intends to ensure, as he has also outlined, that our carers are fully and properly supported. I have so many such constituents who are pensioners. They do not understand why, despite having provided care and having been in receipt of the full rate of carer's allowance their entire life, when they reach pension age, when in fact the job sometimes gets more difficult, their full rate is reduced. They see it as a sign that the State does not acknowledge their work as carers. I again urge that the commitment in the programme for Government is advanced. I thank the Minister for his work.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15