Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Tosóidh mé le ráiteas a bhfuil soiléir ach is fiú é a rá, ar aon chor. Níl aon duine ag fáil liúntas na ndaoine atá an Roinn ag tabhairt cúnamh dóibh de bharr go bhfuil sé furasta nó go bhfuil siad compordach. Tá siad á ndéanamh toisc go bhfuil sé tábhachtach agus mar léiriú dá gcuid grá do na daoine atá siad ag tabhairt aire dóibh. I will start with a statement that I think is obvious but is important to reflect upon. Nobody is on carer's allowance because it is easy. Nobody is on carer's allowance because it is comfortable. Nobody is on carer's allowance for the sake of a quiet life. Many of these people would do it for nothing. They are doing it out of a sense of love, duty and responsibility. Carer's allowance is intended to ensure that people who are in that situation are protected from hardship, vulnerability and in some instances, from poverty.

The motion is welcome because the fact is the allowance is not always successful in that regard.

There are many who are caring for their loved ones who do not qualify for either the full carer’s payments or enough payments to make ends meet. This happens against a difficult background. In our constituency offices, we sometimes have to have conversations with people and we give people advice. It is not always comfortable because we would be advising people applying for carer’s payments to make sure to keep a diary of all their duties. You feel uncomfortable because you do not want these people to have to justify to you what they are doing, but it is good advice when they are making an application. As well as having to justify the care they give, they sometimes have to go through onerous means tests. I was recently speaking to a gentleman who was asked about construction work that he and his brother had done 30 years ago. The means test can be extremely onerous and challenging, and we need to reflect on that. The means threshold is too low, so it is welcome that we are looking at this area.

It is also worth examining the participation income. There is a difference given that the cost the Minister of State quoted is substantially higher than the cost the Parliamentary Budget Office provided to Deputy Tully, which is similar to the figure that Family Carers Ireland supplied to the Regional Group. This is worth examining and there are several reasons to do so. Aside from the fact that we need to respect, recognise and support carers, we need to recognise the challenges that other countries are facing. Increasingly, there is a challenge in terms of care. If someone is looking for care from the HSE, it is extremely difficult to access hours. The waiting lists are very long in many places, including in my own county of Cork, where they are particularly high. In other countries, it is an even worse situation. We have a situation in Ireland where many people are willing and able to give care for their loved ones but they deserve the respect of decent support to be able to do that. There are strategic considerations that the Department should take into consideration but more important is the moral obligation to ensure support for people who, out of responsibility and love for the people they care for, are working extremely hard.

My final point is on a slight tangent. It relates to carer’s benefit. Many people find themselves on carer’s benefit and caring for loved ones. That is an insurance-based payment but it can be substantially lower than their previous income and they might still have a mortgage and all the other outgoings. We have looked at pay-related jobseeker’s payments, which is welcome, so perhaps it is time to also look at pay-related carer’s benefit.

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