Rules

To qualify for Disability Allowance (DA) 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.

Residential care

If you are getting Disability Allowance and go into hospital or residential care you will continue to get your payment as long as you meet the qualifying conditions.

If you were not getting Disability Allowance before living in residential care you can now get Disability Allowance once you meet the qualifying conditions.

Means test

Disability Allowance is a means-tested payment. To get the allowance your total means must be below a certain amount. The main items that count as means are:

• Cash income that you or your spouse/civil partner/cohabitant may have. More information is available in our document about cash income not included in the means test.
• Capital, for example, the value of savings, investments, shares, any property you may have (other than your own home). However, the first €50,000 of any capital you have is not taken into account. More information is available in our document about capital and social welfare payments.
• Maintenance paid to you. More information is available in our document about how maintenance is assessed as means.

Income from the sale of your home

The proceeds of the sale of the house up to €190,460.71 may not be taken into account when assessing your means if you sell your home and:

• move to more suitable accommodation (you can either buy or rent)
• move in with someone who is caring for you and getting a carer's payment
• move to sheltered or special housing in the voluntary, co-operative, statutory or private sectors
• move into a private nursing home that is registered under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990

If you are living in premises, part of which is a business and part of which is used for accommodation, only the proceeds that relate to the part of the premises that has been used for accommodation are not taken into account.

Income from work

You can do rehabilitative work and earn up to €120 per week (after deduction of PRSI, any pension contributions and union dues) without your payment being affected. You must get permission from the Department of Social Protection before you start work.

50% of your earnings between €120 and €350 will not be taken into account in the Disability Allowance means test.

Any earnings over €350 is fully assessed as income in the means test.

More information is available in our document Disability payments and work.

Payments for dependants

If you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting, you may get an increase in your payment for them as your adult dependant. You may also get an increase in your payment for dependant children.

If you have children living with you and you are single, widowed, separated or a civil partner who is not living with the other civil partner, you may get an increase in your payment for the person who is caring for your child, provided the person is aged 16 or over, living with and being supported by you.

Income from spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's work

If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant works it can affect your Disability Allowance.

Since 26 September 2007, your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant's weekly earnings are assessed as follows:

Weekly earnings are gross earnings less PRSI, superannuation and union dues.

€20 per day (up to a maximum of €60) from work is deducted from your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant's average weekly earnings and then 60% of the balance is assessed as weekly means. The weekly means is then deducted from the combined total of your personal rate of Disability Allowance and the maximum Increase for a Qualified Adult and any Increases for Qualified Children (if applicable).

If you were getting Disability Allowance before 26 September 2007 and you are still in payment on the 26 September, your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant's earnings will be assessed under the new means assessment to find out whether you are better off. If you would get a greater amount of Disability Allowance on the previous assessment then you will continue to be assessed using the previous method of calculating means from employment.

If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant's means have changed, for any reason since the 26 September 2007, you cannot apply the previous method of calculating means from employment.