Ms Clare Duffy:

It is a whole different discussion when it comes to carers and adequacy because carers are the only group within the social welfare system who if they are "lucky" enough to get a social welfare payment or carer's allowance, must provide full-time care to get it, which is at least 35 hours per week. Many carers provide multiples of that. It is almost a different question when it comes to adequacy. What we said in our submission is that we need to begin the discussion around the adequacy of the carer's allowance. Carer's allowance is €219 per week at a maximum rate. Almost half of the 89,000 carers who receive carer's allowance do not get the full amount. They get a reduced amount because they or their partner have other means. In very many cases, carers providing full-time care are on less than the basic social welfare rate and yet for that, they must provide full-time care so we need to begin a whole other conversation around adequacy rather than just measuring it in poverty.