Carer's Allowance Means Test Calculator (Ireland)
Work out your weekly means and the Carer's Allowance they leave you with — 2026 rates and the Budget 2027 rates, with the €2.50 step rule the Department of Social Protection (DSP) applies, checked against its rates booklet.
Calculator
EXAMPLE €212.50 a week at 2026 rates before income tax, from the Department of Social Protection, for the example household (weekly means €63.00) — swap in your own numbers below.
Carer's Allowance is a weekly payment from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) for people giving full-time care. It is means-tested: the DSP turns your household's income and savings into a weekly "means" figure, ignores a slice of it (the disregard), and then every €2.50 of means above €7.60 takes €2.50 off the scheduled rate — the full weekly rate before any means reduction.
EXAMPLEExample Carer's Allowance (2026 rates) — swap in your own in the form
€212.50 a week, before income tax
About €11,050.00 a year, paid weekly by the Department of Social Protection. Weekly means of €63.00 are €55.40 above €7.60, the point where the reduction starts — 23 steps of €2.50, so €57.50 comes off the €270.00 scheduled rate.
How the means test adds up
The same steps as the official worked example: cash income, then the weekly value of savings, less the disregard, halved for a couple.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Employment earnings before tax (both partners) | €2,050.00 |
| Weekly cash income assessed | €2,050.00 |
| Savings, investments and property (combined) | €145,000.00 |
| Divided by 2 for a couple | €72,500.00 |
| Formula applied to whole thousands | €72,000.00 |
| First €50,000 at €0 per €1,000 | €0.00 |
| €50,000 to €60,000 at €1 per €1,000 | €10.00 |
| €60,000 to €70,000 at €2 per €1,000 | €20.00 |
| €70,000 to €72,000 at €4 per €1,000 | €8.00 |
| Weekly capital means, multiplied back by 2 | €76.00 |
| Total weekly means before the disregard | €2,126.00 |
| Less the couple disregard (from 02/07/2026) | −€2,000.00 |
| Halved for a couple (÷ 2) | €63.00 |
| Example weekly means | €63.00 |
The €2,000 comes off the total, not off earnings alone: the Department's own worked example — the one this table follows step by step — adds cash income and the weekly value of capital together first, then takes the disregard off that total, and halves what is left.
From means to the weekly payment
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Personal rate — under 66, caring for one person | €270.00 |
| Scheduled weekly rate — the full rate before the means reduction | €270.00 |
| Weekly means above €7.60 — the point where the reduction starts | €55.40 |
| Less 23 steps of €2.50 (part of a step counts as a whole one) | −€57.50 |
| Rate after the reduction | €212.50 |
| Example weekly payment (before income tax) | €212.50 |
Every extra €2.50 of means (about €5.00 of household income once the disregard is used up) takes another €2.50 off. The payment stops once weekly means pass €275.10 — €212.10 of means (about €424.20 of household income — a couple's means are halved) above the example household's current figure.
If household income changes
An extra shift, or a partner's hours changing, moves the means figure — this is what the payment does around the example household's current income:
| Weekly household income | Weekly means | Weekly payment | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| €1,950.00 (−€100.00) | €13.00 | €262.50 | +€50.00 more a week (+24%) |
| €2,050.00 — example income | €63.00 | €212.50 | — |
| €2,150.00 (+€100.00) | €113.00 | €162.50 | −€50.00 less a week (−24%) |
| €2,300.00 (+€250.00) | €188.00 | €87.50 | −€125.00 less a week (−59%) |
Income here means cash income assessed as means (pay after the allowed deductions, plus other income); savings are unchanged across the rows.
Enter your own numbers in the form and this section will show how to check the figure against a DSP decision.
Assumptions and things to know
- This is the MEANS side only. The carer must also be giving full-time care to someone who needs it, be 18 or over, live in the State and not work, study or train for more than 18.5 hours a week (that hours limit is about eligibility, not this arithmetic).
- Carer's Allowance is taxable income. The figures here are before income tax; like other taxable DSP payments it is not liable to USC (Universal Social Charge) or PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance).
- Capital counts everything except the carer's own home, and uses the DSP formula on whole thousands — the official example treats €72,500 as €72,000. Property is its capital value, not the rent it earns.
- Not modelled: the rent-a-room disregard, child maintenance (not counted since 06/06/2024), certain scholarship and Automatic Enrolment contributions the DSP excludes, and income from another state's social welfare. Where any of these apply, the assessed means come out LOWER than the figure shown here.
- Half-rate Carer's Allowance has its own conditions — not every payment qualifies (Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit, Back to Work Family Dividend and Supplementary Welfare Allowance are excluded). The half-rate figure is half of the amount the ordinary rules give, with no Child Support Payment.
- Not included: the annual Carer's Support Grant (paid automatically on the first Thursday in June to people on Carer's Allowance — and claimable separately by other full-time carers, as it is not means-tested), Fuel Allowance, the over-80 increase or the island allowance.
- The €1,000 / €2,000 disregards apply from 02/07/2026. The rates are the 2026 rates; the step rule comes from the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and matches every row of the DSP's printed rates booklet.
Estimates only — not professional advice.
In plain terms: Carer's Allowance is a weekly payment from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to someone giving full-time care. It is means-tested: the DSP works out a weekly "means" figure from your household's income and savings, ignores the first € 1,000 a week (€ 2,000 for a couple), and then takes €2.50 off the weekly rate for every €2.50 of means above € 7.60. This calculator does both steps — the means figure and the payment it leaves — the same way the official worked example and the DSP's printed rates booklet do.
How this calculator works
First the means test, exactly as the Citizens Information worked example does it: employment earnings (after PRSI, pension and union deductions) plus other cash income; then the weekly value of savings, investments and property other than your home, using the DSP formula on whole thousands ( nothing on the first €50,000, €1 per €1,000 from €50,000 to €60,000, €2 per €1,000 from €60,000 to €70,000, €4 per €1,000 above €70,000 ) — a couple's combined capital is halved before the formula and the result doubled back; less the weekly disregard; and a couple's figure is halved. Then the payment: the personal rate (150% when caring for two or more people) plus any Child Support Payment is the "scheduled rate", and the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 takes €2.50 off it for every €2.50 (or part of one) of means above €7.60; a result under €2.50 is not paid. Half-rate Carer's Allowance is half of that amount without the child increases. Every figure is read from a versioned data file assembled from the official publications below; the engine reproduces the official worked example and every printed row of the DSP's 2026 rates booklet in its test suite before any deploy. One honesty note: the booklet's footnote for carers aged 66 or over caring for more than one person gives a cut-off that matches last year's rate rather than this year's arithmetic — the calculator follows the Act and says so on the page whenever that narrow range applies.
Sources
Key official sources for the figures on this page — the Sources page lists every statutory value with its effective and retrieval dates.