Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The treatment of family carers by the State is completely unacceptable. Time and again families come to me exhausted, frustrated and angry because they cannot get the home care packages they need. On occasions when packages are sanctioned, the staff are not available to supply them. They also come to me because they are struggling financially and because they cannot get respite care. I am dealing with the case of a young man who looks after his mother. He cannot get away for one week. He loves his mother and minds her for 52 weeks of the year. He cannot get one week off because this Government does not respect him, his mother or carers in general.

Before Christmas, I dealt with the case of family who wanted to travel to America to see a brother getting married. They could not do so. They were told that it would be sorted. Imagine trying to organise for your family to go away to one of the happiest family occasions. Once again, there was no respite care available. That is not good enough.. These are people who provide care for their loved ones. The one time they looked for a bit of support they could not get it.

As we have seen from the latest report from Family Carers Ireland, 13% of people are struggling to pay their rent or are in arrears with their rent or their mortgages. Some 70% say that they are lonely. They are caring for their parents, their loved ones or their siblings and they are lonely because they feel they are doing it alone. The Government needs to help; it needs to step in and support these people.

I have a very good friend who is looking after her mother. Her mother wants to stay at home and my friend wants to keep her there. She cannot get a family care package at the weekend, even though it has been sanctioned, because there are no staff available to do the work. She is bringing in friends to help. She is doing so because she loves her mother, and that is what this is about. It is not about money; it is about people caring for their families. I plead with the Minister of State to do more. Family carers need support now.

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