Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a somewhat related question. This particular instance is not provided for in any of the current allowances and I fully understand why. I am looking for a little bit of input on how we can support carers who are no longer caring. When somebody moves into an institution or goes into a long-term care facility, a lot of the time the carer - particularly if they are a bit older - is not in a situation where they can go back into the workforce. Their household budget and income has taken a severe drop. They are probably still attending a lot of appointments with the person for whom they previously cared even though that person is in a long-term care home. I am thinking of two families I am dealing with at the moment, one of whom is attending weekly meetings because otherwise a carer and a taxi has to be provided to bring the person to and from different appointments. There are also people who visit their loved one on a daily basis in a care home. From that perspective, there is the cost of transport associated with travelling to and from the care home in a situation where their household's income has dropped. Obviously they are no longer caring for the person for 25 to 40 hours per week so they absolutely do not fit the criteria. I understand that. I am aware that they can get a payment for up to 12 weeks after the person for whom they previously cared initially goes into the home. I wonder if we need to think about people in that situation. Is a third carer's rate something we need to think about? Something like that may be needed to acknowledge the real aspects of their lives. It would be interesting to hear if this is something that comes up with the members of Family Carers Ireland.