Payments and supports for carers

If you are caring for someone, you may be entitled to a number of payments and supports to help you care for them. This includes tax relief and getting leave from work.

If you are a carer providing full-time care, you may be entitled to:

• Carer's Allowance
• Carer's Benefit
• Carer's Support Grant

If you are caring for a child with a severe disability, you may be entitled to Domiciliary Care Allowance.

Carer’s Allowance

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

You must be habitually resident in Ireland and meet other conditions. Carer’s Allowance is means-tested.

If you are getting certain other social welfare payments, you may be able to keep your main social welfare payment and get a half-rate Carer's Allowance.

Carer’s Benefit

You can get Carer's Benefit if you leave work or reduce your hours to care for a person who needs full-time care. You must be under 66 and have enough PRSI contributions.

You can get Carer’s Benefit for 2 years (104 weeks) for each person that you are caring for. You can take the 104 weeks all together or in separate periods adding up to a total of 104 weeks.

The maximum amount you can earn and qualify for Carer’s Benefit is €450 a week after tax.

Carer’s Support Grant

If you are a carer aged 16 or over providing full-time care for at least 6 months of the year, you may be able to get the annual Carer’s Support Grant.

The grant is paid automatically to people getting:

• Carer’s Allowance
• Carer’s Benefit
• Domiciliary Care Allowance

If you don’t get one of these payments, you may still qualify for the grant if you meet certain criteria. The Carer’s Support Grant is not means-tested.

Domiciliary Care Allowance

You can get Domiciliary Care Allowance if you are providing care to a child under 16 with a severe disability.

When your child reaches 16 years of age, they may qualify for Disability Allowance. If you continue to provide full-time care and attention for your child, you can retain your carer's payment.

Domiciliary Care Allowance is not means-tested.

You can work (as an employee or in self-employment) or take part in an education or training course for up to 18.5 hours a week and keep your carer's payment. Income earned may be taken into account for Carer's Allowance.

Carer’s leave

You can apply for carer's leave if you are caring for somebody who needs full-time care and attention.

You can take a minimum of 13 weeks and a maximum of 104 weeks of carer’s leave.

The person you are caring for must need someone with them at all times to either:

• Keep them safe and help them throughout the day with their normal personal needs, such as eating, drinking, washing and dressing
• Protect them from being a danger to themselves

Is carer’s leave paid?

Carer’s leave is unpaid but your job is kept open until you return. However, you can work for up to 18.5 hours while on carer’s leave, as long as you earn less than €450 a week.

You can also take part in an education or training course or do voluntary work for up to 18.5 hours a week.

When caring finishes

If you have not been working for a long time because you were caring for someone, and that care has now finished, you may qualify for:

• An employment or training scheme to help you return to work
• An education scheme to help you return to education

Read more about when caring finishes in The Way Ahead (pdf), a guide from Care Alliance Ireland.

There are tax reliefs and credits you may be able to claim if you are caring for someone.

Home Carer Tax Credit

If you are married or in a civil partnership and you care for a dependent person, you can apply for the Home Carer Tax Credit.

A dependent person is a:

• Child who you get Child Benefit for
• Person aged 65 or over
• Person who is permanently incapacitated due to a disability

A dependent person you are caring for cannot be a spouse or civil partner. They can however, be a relative by marriage, or someone for whom you act as a legal guardian.

Incapacitated Child Tax Credit

If you are the parent or guardian of a child who is permanently incapacitated, you may be entitled to an Incapacitated Child Tax Credit.

To qualify the child must either:

• Be under 18 years of age and permanently incapacitated, or
• Be over 18 years of age, have become permanently incapacitated before 21 years of age and be unable to support themselves
• Have become permanently incapacitated aged 21 years or over while they were
  • In full-time education
  • In full-time training for a trade or profession and the training is expected to be at least 2 years

Tax relief for employing a carer

You may be entitled to claim tax relief for employing a carer if they are caring for:

• You, your family member, spouse or civil partner who is totally incapacitated, or
• Your relative, or a relative of your spouse or civil partner who is totally incapacitated

You can employ the carer directly or you can use an agency that employs carers.

Homemaker’s Scheme or HomeCaring Periods Scheme

The Homemaker's Scheme and the HomeCaring Periods Scheme help carers qualify for a higher rate of State Pension (Contributory) when they reach pension age.

Long-Term Carers Contribution

If you have been a full-time carer for at least 20 years (1,040 weeks), you can get Long-Term Carers Contributions to help you qualify for the State Pension (Contributory).

Credits for carers

If you give up work to care for someone and get Carer's Allowance or Carer's Benefit, you will be automatically awarded credit contributions.

If you take unpaid statutory carer's leave from work and do not get Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit, you can still be awarded credits for up to 104 weeks. Your employer must complete an application for carer's leave 'credits' when you return to work.

There are other supports and benefits available for carers.

Community care services and Home Support Service

Family carers may be able to get further support for the people they are caring for through community care services and the Home Support Service.

Community care services are usually provided by the Health Service Executive (HSE). The level of services available varies across the country, but can include public health nursing, physiotherapy, day care and respite care.

The Home Support Service provides community care and home supports at a local level and is available to people aged over 65 who may need support to continue living at home or to return home after being in hospital.

Disabled Person’s Parking Card

A person with certain disabilities or who is certified as blind can apply for a Disabled Person’s Parking Card or Permit (also known as the European Parking Card or Disabled Parking Badge).

A person with the card can use it in any vehicle they travel in, as either a driver or passenger. So a carer who is driving a passenger who has the card can park in assigned disabled person’s parking spaces.

Additional Needs Payment

If you are getting a social welfare payment, or are working and on a low income, and you care for somebody, you may be able to get an Additional Needs Payment to help with recurring travel costs to hospital for appointments, or for visiting a relative in hospital.

There are a number of organisations that provide support and advice to carers.

Read more about family carer rights and entitlements in the Family Carers Ireland guide for carers (pdf).