To qualify for a social assistance payment, you must be habitually resident in Ireland and pass a ‘means test’.
In the means test, the Department of Social Protection (DSP) checks:
To do this, the DSP looks at all your sources of income. Depending on the payment you’re applying for, the DSP may disregard (not take into account):
This page gives a general overview of the means test. However, the way your weekly means is calculated, and the amount you can have, varies from payment to payment.
When you apply for a social assistance (means-tested) payment, you must include details of all sources of income. The form will say which supporting documents you need to submit, if any.
The Department of Social Protection (DSP) can ask you for details of your bank accounts, including the account numbers. However, the DSP does not access your bank account unless you give permission.
Usually, it is not necessary to come visit you at home when deciding on your application. However, a social welfare Inspector may ask to visit you at home to discuss your application and supporting documents.
Staff at the Department of Social Protection (DSP) will decide on your application. They will look at all your sources of income and decide what income, if any, can be disregarded (not taken into account).
You will be told how your means were assessed.
The means test for a social assistance payment can be a complex calculation, and it can differ from payment to payment. You can find information below about what the DSP looks at in the means test.
If you are refused a social assistance payment and you are not satisfied, you can appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
When you have been awarded a social welfare payment, you must tell the DSP about any changes in your circumstances. If you do not, you may be fined or asked to repay any overpayment that may have occurred.
Read more about the means test on gov.ie.
If you apply for a social insurance payment (based on your PRSI contributions), you do not have to pass a means test.
However, if you apply for an increase in your payment for an adult dependant (also called a qualified adult) or child dependants (qualified children), then your spouse’s, civil partner’s, or cohabitant’s means will be assessed.
While your means are not taken into account, the DSP will assess any means you hold jointly.
In the means test, the Department of Social Protection (DSP) assesses all cash income that you expect to get in the coming year. In practice, this is usually assessed by calculating the income you got in the previous year.
Cash income includes:
Payments made to you by the DSP are not taken into account.
How your income from employment or self-employment is assessed depends on the payment you are applying for. When the DSP assesses your income from employment, it does not include:
If you are self-employed, the DSP disregards:
Usually, income tax or the Universal Social Charge (USC) are not deducted from your income from employment. Exceptions include assessments for:
Depending on the payment you’re applying for, the DSP may disregard (not take into account) certain income.
For example, a certain amount of your earnings from work is not taken into account for Disability Allowance and Blind Pension.
There are also additional income disregards for:
The assessment of income from employment for Jobseeker's Allowance is a little more complex. Find more information in our page, Work and Jobseeker's Allowance.
For most social welfare payments, the DSP assesses income from maintenance as means. However, since 4 June 2024, child maintenance payments are not included in the means test for any social welfare payment.
The DSP also assesses any maintenance paid to your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant. See ‘Assessing the means of a couple’ below.
However, rent or mortgage payments of up to €95.23 per week can be offset against maintenance payments. You can read more about Maintenance and social welfare payments.
If you or your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant are getting income from working a farm, the DSP assesses the yearly value to you (this is gross income minus expenses). If the land is worked but is not being worked to its potential, then they will make an estimate of the potential net yearly value.
If you are leasing a farm you own, your rental income is assessed.
If you are not working or leasing a farm, the capital value of your land is assessed.
The house in which you live is not included in the means test, unless you are getting an income from it.
If you rent out a room in your home, the DSP assesses any rental income over €14,000 per year.
This income disregard also applies if you:
You should check if renting a room in your home will affect any other payments you are getting, such as Fuel Allowance.
The maximum income disregard is €269.23 a week (€14,000 per year). The person renting a room in your home must use the room for a minimum of 28 consecutive days.
The income disregard will not apply if you are renting to an employee or your immediate family members.
Immediate family members are:
The DSP does not assess any income from rent over €14,000 per year if you would otherwise be living alone, and you are getting either:
If you rent part of your home and do not qualify for the rent income disregard above, the DSP allows for some deductions from your rental income, such as wear and tear. You cannot get these deductions if you are getting the rental income disregard.
The Accommodation Recognition Payment for hosting refugees from Ukraine is not assessed in the means test for a weekly social assistance payment, Working Family Payment or Supplementary Welfare Allowance. However, it is taken into account for the Additional Needs Payment (excluding a supplement).
If you sell your home, the proceeds of the sale are normally taken into account.
However, the first €190,500 of the sale proceeds is not taken into account if you get certain payments and sell your house to:
This exemption only applies if you are getting one of the following payments:
If you (or your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant) own property that you are not personally using, or if you have investments or any other form of capital, the DSP assessed the value using a standard formula.
In general, it doesn’t matter whether you get an income from the property or investment. The only exception to this is where an Increase for a Qualified Adult is being assessed for a social insurance payment. In this case, if you let the property, the DSP assesses the rental income rather than the capital value.
The property and investments that may be assessed as capital include:
If you or your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant saves a portion of your social welfare payment each week, these savings, as well as savings from most other sources, will be taken into account as part of your means.
The DSP uses the following standard formula to assess the value of capital for all social welfare payments (except Disability Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, and Supplementary Welfare Allowance):
Weekly means assessed
For Disability Allowance and Carer's Allowance, the first €50,000 of capital is not taken into account.
For Supplementary Welfare Allowance, the first €5,000 of capital is not taken into account.
Capital is not assessed in the means test for Working Family Payment.
Your means from cash income, employment, and capital are added together to find your total weekly means. Depending on the payment you’re applying for, the DSP will disregard certain income (not take certain income into account).
For most means-tested payments, the rate of social welfare payment you can get, if any, is reduced on a sliding scale according to your weekly means.
If you are under 25 and applying for Jobseeker’s Allowance or for Supplementary Welfare Allowance, your age can also determine the maximum payment.
If you apply for a social assistance or means-tested payment and you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting, the DSP takes the means of your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant into account in the means test.
If you have questions about the means test, you can contact the section in the Department of Social Protection (DSP) that pays the payment you‘re applying for.
You can also find information on Gov.ie about assessing: