Ms Zoe Hughes:

The carer's assessment for older people is part of that. I believe it is still at the pilot stage. I started in Care Alliance Ireland in 2015, so I have been in it for eight years, and that system had started before I came into the post and is still in the pilot stage. I am not certain of where it is. I have not had an update in a while. It is slow-moving. If people are caring for somebody over the age of 65, they should be eligible for that regardless of whether the person they are caring for has a disability and is ageing into being over 65.

Anybody who knows me knows that intersectionality is a bugbear of mine. It seems the systems do not know how to account for it. As I said in my opening statement, many family carers are themselves disabled. There are also many disabled people who have mental health conditions separate from that who then develop dementia. I have seen that in my own family. For example, my mother-in-law cares for her sister who has complex disabilities and has developed dementia in recent times. It is almost as if there is a lack of understanding that people can have multiple things going on at the same time. The system seems to struggle with that. I am not entirely sure how that can be fixed because I have been trying to do it for a long time. That is my answer to that. I do not know where it is. I do not know exactly how it could be operationalised but I know there is much siloing within the systems. To be fair to the Department of Social Protection, it is probably one of the best Departments to work with in that way, and certainly with regard to carers' issues. We found it very helpful. That is not to say other Departments are not but it is worth noting. That is really the only thing I can think of in response.