Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Manchester United nearly collapsed. It does not pay a penny in taxation to the Exchequer here, but if the Government imposed a tax of 5% on Manchester United it would pay for all the carers in the country and they would not have to beg resources from the State. It would be a very simple way to obtain the money. Manchester United nearly collapsed and that man's business nearly collapsed because there is so much money going out of the bloodstock industry. Manchester United does not pay a penny in taxation to the Irish Exchequer. Who needs the money more, the bloodstock industry, the manager of Manchester United or carers? Carers need it. I thank them tonight for looking after their loved ones. I thank them for their effort, their interest and their work. When practising politicians see people, mostly women but many men also, coming in with signs of stress on their faces, they know those people are looking after a loved one, a mother, a father, a brother or a sister or somebody with a disability. When they walk into my constituency office, I know they are looking after somebody who is sick or old and I thank very much and tell them that they are doing it because the State has failed.

I congratulate the Minister. He is a very reluctant Minister. He reminds me of the bride who did not want to get married. We know what happened to that bride — she got married but she left her husband. I hope the Minister will not leave the Cabinet. Last week the Taoiseach downgraded the Department of Social and Family Affairs. It is a very important Ministry but it was the last appointment to be filled and it is wrong that this should have happened. I wish the Minister well. It is important that he takes this job very seriously because it is vital that we look after the less well-off in society.

Tonight we are discussing the issue of carers. Our committee made 15 recommendations, the most important of which relates to means testing. The cost involved would be approximately €180 million. That is only 1.6% of the overall budget for social welfare. In the budget in December the Minister should deal with that issue and give recognition to the men and women who are looking after their loved ones with no monetary help from the State. They should be rewarded. This is not about money, but recognition. That is what every single group that appeared before the committee said. It is not all about money; it is about recognising that carers are doing a job the State cannot do and making small recompense for doing that job. If the Minister does that in December it will be a start on the 15 recommendations made by the committee. I, Deputy Penrose and our Fianna Fáil colleagues worked hard. We listened to the groups who attended. It was heartbreaking to see elderly people coming in to tell us about their cases. It is time the Government listened and did something for them.

Regarding the recent meeting in Cork, the way the Taoiseach and the Minister downgraded the Department of Social and Family Affairs is serious because it is an indication that nothing has changed and that the Government does not care much about the less well-off. When the December budget is published, we will see of what the new Minister is made. He must be as strong as he was last week and not do what the previous Minister, Deputy Coughlan, did when, for €55 million, she targeted the most vulnerable in society. He must stand up as he did last week and demand the resources for carers and the less well-off, the people who need them most. The Minister was right, as was his father, when they said we are not here to look after shareholders and that the rich will always get richer. The rich can look after themselves; the poor will always be with us and we must support them, help them and look after them. We must never forget about them regardless of how well the economy is doing.

I am sick and tired of hearing about how wonderfully the economy is performing. If the economy is doing so well, why are so many people feeling under pressure? Why do 70,000 children go to school without breakfast every day? It is the result of the 16 savage cutbacks. What are we going to do for the 52,000 families on the housing waiting list? These cutbacks were implemented by the previous Minister. I hope the current Minister learned from that situation.

We are here tonight to discuss carers who must be supported. They have made their recommendations. They have come here year after year and lobbied for the resources they need and now is the time to provide give them. Yesterday we listened to the Minister for Finance and Government spokesmen telling us about the record amount of money in this economy. If there is so much money in the economy, carers should be given the resources they need, including the home-based subvention and the travel allowances. The moment there was a downturn in the economy, the first thing to be cut was home help for the most vulnerable in society, the people who need it most.

In the past few months the Western Health Board made a decision to cut back on transport to hospitals. People would need to be almost dead now before they will be brought to hospital. The Minister should talk to his colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, and direct the health board to return to the old system of bringing the sick and the weak to hospital. People who cannot afford transport should be brought to hospital as happened under the old arrangement. Any spare resources within health should go towards funding home help and looking after those who are caring for people at home. That is a reasonable request. That is where the money should be targeted.

Last year the Western Health Board had a large sum of money left over and spent it on seven full days of what it described as conferences but what I call junkets in Galway, Leenane and Connemara. It spent money that should have been spent on carers, the sick and the weak. The money could have been used to bring these people to hospitals. If there was anybody in control, this would not have been allowed to happen. I can stand over that account and it can be checked because it is on the record of the health board. That is the type of country we have. We cannot look after people who are sick and weak. People give up good jobs to go home and look after their parents and the payment they get, the carer's benefit, is just above unemployment assistance, which is only barely above the means upon which anybody could live. That is not right and the Minister will be judged in December. I thank those organisations representing carers and say well done and keep fighting. It is our duty to ensure they get the necessary resources. No one can deny the resources are there and we want them to be given to those carers looking after their loved ones at home.

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