OPINION: Budget a mixed bag for family carers

Budget 2025 has delivered a mixed bag of gains and disappointments for family carers in Ireland.
On the one hand, we welcome the significant increases in the income disregard for Carer’s Allowance, a long-standing issue that Family Carers Ireland has fought hard to change. Thousands of family carers will now qualify for the payment, giving them access to crucial financial support they were previously denied.
On the other hand, family carers already receiving this payment will not directly feel the benefit of this significant move, but rather will only see the €12 extra per week. While helpful, this increase will not fully ease the financial pressures faced by many who have sacrificed their ability to work and earn a living to provide care.
The Carer’s Allowance means test remains one of the most contentious and outdated mechanisms in our social welfare system. While we recognise the importance of the Government’s efforts to increase the income disregard, what family carers truly need is a fundamental change – one that involves abolishing the means test altogether. The introduction of a Family Carer Payment, based on a Participation Income model, would recognise and fairly compensate family carers for the immense contributions they make to society.
According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, abolishing the Carer’s Allowance means test would cost €375.3 million annually. Given that family carers save the State over €20 billion every year by providing essential care that would otherwise fall to our strained health care system, this is an investment, not a cost.
One of the steps forward from this budget is the decision to make Carer’s Allowance an eligible payment for the Fuel Allowance. This is a long-overdue recognition of the additional costs family carers face in keeping their homes warm while caring for loved ones. However, it’s disappointing that this will not come into effect until January 2025, leaving carers to face another winter without this vital support.
Similarly, the double payment in October, the Christmas bonus, and the increase in the Carer’s Support Grant to €2,000, along with the additional one-off payment of €400, are all steps in the right direction. The €20 increase in the Domiciliary Care Allowance and the extension of Carer’s Benefit to the self-employed are also positive measures. But again, these changes, while helpful, do not go far enough in addressing the deep-seated financial challenges family carers face every day.
When it comes to health, the budget has offered some hope but left many questions unanswered. Funding for 768 additional special education teachers and 1,600 SNAs is a welcome move, as is the allocation of 600,000 extra home support hours. The €336 million increase for Disability Services, which will facilitate more residential care beds, expanded respite provision, and additional home support hours, is also positive.
However, it’s important to acknowledge that these improvements will mean little if long-standing recruitment challenges in the home support sector are not addressed. There was also no mention of respite care for family carers in this budget, a glaring omission that must be addressed.
Equally concerning is the lack of any measures to address the lengthy waiting lists for essential therapies such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy. Thousands of children and adults are being denied the supports they desperately need, and Budget 2025 offered no solutions to this critical issue.
Lastly, full funding for the Carer Guarantee, which would provide a core basket of services to family carers regardless of where they live, has yet to be confirmed. Despite being a commitment in the Programme for Government, this vital initiative remains underfunded and incomplete.
As Budget 2025 fades from public discourse and the focus shifts to the looming general election, we must not lose sight of the issues that truly matter.
Ireland’s 500,000 family carers deserve to be truly recognised, valued and supported for the incredible work they do. An Ireland without family carers is unthinkable. It’s time we start treating them as the essential contributors they are.

Catherine Cox is Head of Communications and Policy at Family Carers Ireland. For more, see www.familycarers.ie.