Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

They should be at school.

Deputy Crowe has raised a specific case and there is a respite care grant in existence to give carers time off. However, if an emergency arises I can see that arranging such cover in time could be a problem and one may be at the mercy of neighbours.

All Deputies have the figures relating to this issue as they have been given to the House on many occasions. At present the law states one must be a full-time carer with an allowance for up to 15 hours of outside work. According to the census, 84,000 carers of the 150,000 mentioned offer care for up to two hours per day and a further 16,000 offer care for under four hours per day. This means 100,000 of the 150,000 carers referred to give care for under four hours per day. One can argue that those giving four hours care per day should receive carer's allowance but we have not gone in that direction; we have dealt with full-time care issues. Some 7,957 people give care for over four hours and under six hours per day and 40,000 give care for over six hours per day. As the Deputy knows, we currently pay carer's allowance to 27,000 people at an estimated expense, this year, of €281 million.

See this speech in context