Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister for a very comprehensive and progressive budget in respect of her Department addressing issues that long awaited somebody to address them, and her Department anticipating other issues. It is a good and progressive response to the challenges behind us and ahead of us at present which affect everybody.

I will raise two issues that affect one group of people who are carers. I find that a lot of carers are lone parents who are caring all their lives for a child with special needs who is now an adult. The carers are tired and may have to release the adult into residential care because they are worn out. They have been at it all their lives. That is the job they took on and they took it on in good faith, but they are now at the stage where their own age is catching up with them and they are unable to keep up the same pace. When they release the adult child into residential care, they lose the carer's allowance even though they bring the once-upon-a-time child and now adult back into their homes, very often for half the week and at weekends. They are happy to do that and, in fact, the residential care is their respite as they get older. Will the Minister look at that, perhaps not at this stage but in the future? I am sure I am not the only one and that many other Members would have dealt with such cases as well.

I also am concerned about the payment that is available for children who have special needs and are adjudged to have special needs, or not, as the case may be.