John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Everybody here acknowledges the work carers do, the savings for the State and the issues that affect them. I have been struck over the last number of years by the number of young people who are providing a caring service for family members. The restrictions there are affecting them over the long term as well because they cannot study for more than 15 hours a week. There are also long-time carers who might be caring for over 20 years. That has an impact in terms of their pension entitlements. The impact of all that must be examined. Deputy O'Dea is correct that there is the carer's support grant but that amounts to only approximately €4.65 per day. It is welcome but when one boils it down it is not even half of the minimum wage per day, although I realise the intent of the grant was not to provide a wage but to give carers some respite.

The Minister said the committee could do a piece of work on it by inviting carers to appear before it and by examining this in a holistic way. That would be welcome. However, the difficulty is that we have done that already in numerous areas. The committee went through an exhaustive process in the case of lone parents. We invited in all the groups representing lone parents and we produced a comprehensive report which made clear recommendations on how to address the issues facing lone parents. The report had cross-committee support but, unfortunately, the vast majority of the recommendations have fallen on deaf ears. While that approach would be welcome, the difficulty is not having it in the legislation. I will press this amendment because enshrining it in the Bill will ensure the report is carried out. That does not preclude the committee carrying out work in parallel with that. The timeframe of three months might be a little tight but we can look at that.