- Disability Allowance
- Free Travel
- Carers Allowance
- Carers Benefit & Carers Leave
- Carer’s Leave
- PRSI Contribution Conditions
- Tax Implications
- Carers Support Grant
Disability Allowance
Disability allowance is a weekly allowance to those with a disability from the age of 16 years. If in education at 16, you can continue to attend school while still receiving payment.
To qualify for Disability Allowance, you must:
- Have an injury, disease or physical or mental disability that has continued, or may be expected to continue, for at least one year.
- As a result of this disability be substantially restricted in undertaking work that would otherwise be suitable for a person of your age, experience and qualifications.
- Be aged between 16 and 66. When you reach 66 years of age you no longer qualify for DA, but you are assessed for a State pension.
- Satisfy a means test
- Satisfy the habitual residence condition.
If you qualify for Disability Allowance you may also get extra social welfare benefits with your payment and other supplementary welfare payments.
For more information, visit the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
Free Travel
The Free Travel scheme is available to (amongst others) recipients of a Disability Allowance or Carer’s Allowance, and permits travel free of charge on most CIE public transport services, Luas, as well as on the public transport services of many private operators throughout Ireland.
Note: It is possible to get a Companion Pass which allows the person with the disability to be accompanied by a companion.
For more information, visit the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
Carers Allowance (Means Tested)
Carer’s Allowance is a payment to people living in Ireland who are looking after someone who is in need of support because of age, physical or learning disability or illness, including mental illness.
The Carer’s Allowance is not payable to everyone, it is mainly aimed at carers on low incomes who live with and look after certain people who need full-time care and attention. There are rules about who may be entitled to claim Carers Allowance and these rules are set out under ‘Rules’ below.
If you are providing care to more than one person you may be entitled to an additional 50% of the maximum rate of Carer’s Allowance each week.
Carer’s Allowance is paid directly into your bank or building society account or by a book of payable orders, whichever you prefer. (Payable orders may be cashed each week at a Post Office chosen by you.
If receiving carers allowance, you will also qualify for free household benefits (such as Free Electricity/Natural Gas/Bottled Gas Refill Allowance, Free Television Licence, Free Telephone Rental Allowance) and a Free Travel Pass.
Carer’s Allowance is not taken into account in the assessment for a medical card.
If you consider that you have been wrongly refused Carer’s Allowance, or you are unhappy about a decision of a Social Welfare Deciding Officer about your entitlements, you have the option of appealing this decision.
For current details and criteria on how to apply please see Citizens Information.
Or
Department of Social and Family Affairs
Social Welfare Services Office
Government Buildings
Ballinalee Road
Longford,a
IRELAND
Tel :(043) 334 0000 LoCall: 1890 927 770
www.welfare.ie
Application forms are also available at your local social welfare office.
Carers Benefit & Carers Leave
Carers Benefit & Carers Leave is extremely useful for people to take some time off work and receive a weekly payment.
It works in many ways like maternity leave in that your job is held for you to return to and your employment rights are not affected. It is a payment made to insured persons in Ireland who leave the workforce to care for a person(s) in need of full-time care and attention. It does not cost your employer anything.
Carers Benefit/Leave can last for up to two years, although you don’t have to take the full two years and can also take it over a number of years. It is also applicable to both parents.
Particularly when an adult son or daughter are leaving school and transitioning to adulthood, the ability to take some time off work to focus on supporting your child can be a huge relief.
You can get Carer’s Benefit for a total period of 104 weeks for each person being cared for. This may be claimed as a single continuous period or in any number of separate periods up to a total of 104 weeks. However, if you claim Carer’s Benefit for less than six consecutive weeks in any given period you must wait for a further six weeks before you can claim Carer’s Benefit to care for the same person again.
If you are caring for more than one person, you may receive payment for each care recipient for 104 weeks. This may result in the care periods overlapping or running concurrently.
You will be awarded “credits” automatically for the period you are getting Carer’s Benefit. Credits are awarded at the same rate as your last paid contribution. These credits help protect your future entitlements.
Source: Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Carers Leave
Your right to Carer’s Leave from employment compliments the Carer’s Benefit Scheme with regard to leave. Carer’s Leave allows employees to leave their employment temporarily for a period up to 104 weeks to provide full-time care for people in need of full-time care and attention.
The leave will be unpaid but those who propose to avail of Carer’s Leave will have their jobs kept open for them for the duration of the leave.
Eligibility for Carer’s Benefit will not be a prerequisite for Carer’s Leave.
If you think you have been wrongly refused Carer’s Benefit, or you are unhappy about a decision of a Social Welfare Deciding Officer about your entitlements, you can appeal this decision.
Rules
You may be eligible for Carer’s Benefit if:
- You are aged 16 or over and under 66.
- You have been in employment for at least eight weeks in the previous 26 weeks before becoming a carer. You must have worked for a minimum of 16 hours per week or 32 hours per fortnight.
- You are resident in the state.
- You give up work in order to be a full time carer. Being a full time carer means you must be living with or in a position to provide full-time care and attention to a person in need of care who is not living in an institution.
- You are not living in a hospital, convalescent home or other similar institution. However, you may continue to be regarded as providing full-time care and attention, if you or the person being cared for is undergoing medical or other treatment in a hospital or other institution for a period not longer than 13 weeks.
- You meet the PRSI contribution conditions.
- The person being cared for is so incapacitated as to require full-time care and attention and is not normally living in an institution. Medical certification is required unless; the person being cared for is a child and getting Domiciliary Care Allowance. The carer of a adult on a Domiciliary Care Allowance need not be the person who receives that allowance on the adult’s behalf.
- You must not be engaged in employment, self-employment, training or education courses outside the home for more than 15 hours a week. Since April 2008, the maximum amount you can earn is €332.50 per week.
PRSI Contribution Conditions
You must have at least 156 contributions paid at any time between entry into insurance and the time the claim for Carer’s Benefit is made and:
- 39 contributions paid in the Relevant Tax Year or
- 39 contributions paid in the 12-month period before the commencement of the Carer’s Benefit or
- 36 contributions paid in the Relevant Tax Year and 26 contributions paid in the Relevant Tax Year prior to that.
The contributions do not have to be Class A. Instead, all employment contributions count (except Class S (self-employed) contributions. The Relevant Tax Year is the second last complete tax year before the year in which you make your claim. So, for claims made in 2015, the Relevant Tax Year is 2013.
Tax Implications
This is a taxable source of income and should be advised to your local tax office.
To apply fill in an application form for Carers Benefit (pdf). This form (CARB1) is also available from your local
Social Welfare Office or from the Carer’s Benefit Section, (see ‘Where to apply’ below).
Carers have important legal rights under Irish law. If you think your rights as a carer have been breached, you can make a complaint to the Labour Relations Commission under the Carer’s Leave Act, 2001 (pdf).
For more information on the Carer’s Benefit, contact your local aSocial Welfare Office or: Carer’s Benefit Section.
For more information and current application criteria please see Citizens Information.
Department of Social and Family Affairs
Social Welfare Services Office
Government Buildings
Ballinalee Road
Longford
Tel : 043 334 0000
LoCall: 1890 927 770
www.welfare.ie
Information on Carers Leave from employment is available from:
National Employment Rights Authority
Information Services
Government Buildings
O’Brien Road
Carlow
Tel : 059 917 8990
Locall 1890 80 90
Carers Support Grant
Persons receiving Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s benefit, will automatically be paid an annual Carer’s Support Grant.
This is not means-tested, but the carer must you The Carer’s support grant is an annual grant paid automatically to people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit. This grant is paid automatically and is not means-tested, but the carer must:
- be living with or in a position to provide full-time care and attention to the person in need of care.
- be at least 16 and normally resident in the state.
- caring for the person for at least 6 months, up to and including the 1st Thursday in June, the payment day of the grant.
You can download the application from the social welfare page here.