Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Chair and I welcome our visitors. Their testimony has been very powerful. As Deputy Donnelly said, it is simply heartbreaking. Everybody needs to hear what Mr. Douglas, Ms Ryan and Ms Budayova have said. Most important, we need to remember why we are here today. This is because of Una, Ailis, Liam and Esther. They are the most important people we can speak about today. They are the people we need to care for and for whom the witnesses are doing such an important job.

The means test should be gone. I agree with what has been said by colleagues. I know the committee will discuss this. It is something we need to look at. We have proposed a disregard of €1,000. This also had to happen. Ms Duffy spoke about 6,000 people who may come back into the system if the disregard or means test were gone. Are we happy this is the figure? The replies to parliamentary questions my colleagues have received from the Minister state 50% of applicants do not receive a carer's allowance. This is disgraceful in this day and age. What are the figures on those who do not qualify for carer's allowance?

I know it is not in the remit of this committee but a review of housing adaptation grants is taking place. It is very important that we feed into it. This involves two issues. The maximum grant is €30,000. I am dealing with a case were the cheapest quote for a woman coming from hospital in Dún Laoghaire is €75,000. This means fund raising and going back to the community welfare officer to try to get additional money to accommodate the lady. It is disgraceful this has to happen. There is a review taking place. Unfortunately it will take a year but it needs to happen and happen quickly.

Deputy Donnelly spoke about social housing. Carers in social housing are waiting three to four years for their issues to be dealt with. This is also a serious problem. In Kildare there are six cases of carers waiting for extensions. The average waiting time for these six families is two and a half years. This is what is happening in social housing. There is the housing adaption grant for those who are not in social housing and waiting lists for those in local authority social housing.

I want to mention sharing care. I have come across two cases where people share the care of a loved one. Unfortunately in one of the cases a social inspector knocked on the door. The lady being cared for was just out of hospital having been there for six months. Why are we sending social welfare inspectors to investigate this? It is beyond me. What this lady is going through with her medical issues is beyond comprehension. A social welfare inspector was tasked with the job of going out and inspecting the level of care the person was getting. It is absolutely disgraceful. I am not sure whether the witnesses come across this but I have come across it twice in recent weeks and I do not understand it. Perhaps the witnesses will comment on it.

The witnesses have my support and the support of the Labour Party. We have raised this continuously and we will continue to do so. I will go to the Seanad to raise it again. As I said at the beginning of my contribution, the more people who know about Una, Ailis, Liam and Esther, the better, because they are the stories. I thank Family Carers Ireland for all the work they do.