Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all our guests. Like Deputy Ó Laoghaire, I welcome Ms Skelly, in particular. I thank Ms Skelly, Ms Bailey and Ms Maher for their testimonies. As we always say here, lived testimony is very important when it comes to everything we do here. It was very important for us to hear their testimonies this morning.

I have encountered multiple issues with carer's allowance in the recent past. One of the biggest issues to arise - I am sure our guests have encountered it as well - is that a person in receipt of a jobseeker's payment who applies for carer's allowance gets his or her jobseeker's payment cut straightaway and then must apply for an SWA. In the last two or three months I have encountered multiple cases of this happening. This situation is causing immense stress to the people who have applied and are looking after loved ones. I do not understand why the jobseeker's payment for these people has been cut. I understand the reason given by the Department but I do not understand the discrepancy. People in receipt of disability allowance continue to receive that allowance until a decision is made while a person in receipt of a jobseeker's allowance who applies has his or her payment cut straightaway, thus creating the necessity to fill out more forms, which is a huge problem for all of the families I am dealing with. Therefore, we, as a committee, need to examine the matter.

This morning the cliff edge was mentioned. Yesterday I spoke to a lady who told me about her carer's allowance being under review. This is an issue that crops up repeatedly. She said: "It feels so degrading to be targeted. I am burnt out and tired, and I am being questioned on the little bit of money I get every week, which is never enough to pay for all the bills and the costs of living." That is exactly one of the issues mentioned by our guests this morning. I do not understand why these people are targeted because those who receive the carer's allowance and the people who care for loved ones have not seen any changes in the care they must provide 24-7. That is the burnout that has been described by our guests here this morning.

I wish to ask a few questions. On the participation income, I am aware of the recent Dáil debate and we had a debate in the Seanad as well. I would like Ms Cox to give details on the income, such as how much would it be and, for anyone who is unaware of the Dáil and Seanad debates, some more details.

Deputy Ó Cuív has mentioned the choice concerning the unlimited or limited pot. Ms Cox mentioned the PBO estimate of €375 million. She also mentioned, as she always does, the €20 billion that carers save the State. To me, one outweighs the other by multiples. I ask our guests to explain what €375 million would mean for their organisations. Any information will inform this committee when we compile our report.

I wish to mention one-family payment and raising the age limit. The payment is something I encounter in my clinics on an almost daily basis. What would raising the age limit mean for one-parent families? I know from considering the transition and analysing social welfare payments that there is stress. These are the issues that we, as a committee, need to examine because one can put a figure on money and on a lot of things but stress is inflicted on people as they must fill out forms and go to the offices of the Citizens Information Board, and to all our offices. One can never put a figure on that and I know that the organisations present deal with this matter on a regular basis.

My last question is a general one. We touched on this issue this morning. As this committee considers the means test for social welfare payments, is there something outside of that we need to get from yourselves to improve the number of carers who are in the system and, more importantly for me, keep carers in the system? What I hear on a regular basis from people who come to my clinics is that they must give up a payment because of the potential to lose X, Y and Z, be it a medical card or a payment. Do we, as a committee, need to examine this matter? I regularly have this conversation with people who are in the system caring and reach the cliff edge which was mentioned here this morning. Perhaps we, as a committee, should give this matter some consideration because it is a huge issue for many carers.