Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Work has commenced on the strategy and will go on at official level while the election campaign is going on. I will consider Deputy Stanton's point about the advisability of continuing with meetings in an election atmosphere. I do not want to do that and it is not my intention. We decided on this months ago but in view of the fact that it was mentioned in the House, I will consider it and see what the best thing is to do. The general point about being proactive and assisting carers instead of being bureaucratic is well made.

The amendment asking for a report is a technical request given the nature of the Bill. Deputy Crowe will agree that not many other subjects are discussed as regularly in the House as carers. No Minister would have any difficulty with presenting a report to the House on carers. I assure him that the work will go on and there will be plenty of opportunities to report to the House as the strategy develops and I look forward to the strategy being worked on, with a fundamental look at where carers will go in the 21st century and their role. We are making positive decisions from our examination of the area.

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