Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

It was not possible to meet the deadline of the end of 2007 because the section of the Department dealing with this issue was also working on the Green Paper on pensions, which involved a broad range of consultation, as well as the development of new arrangements for payments to nursing home. However, since this process began, there has been a significant level of positive consultation. The request for submissions has produced submission from 50 organisations, 100 from individuals and some 360 which came through questionnaires.

The Carers Association of Ireland held a series of regional seminars at the end of last year which allowed individuals to put forward their views on the strategy. The association has compiled those contributions into a report which I will launch next week. In the last fortnight I have met representatives of the Carers Association of Ireland and Care Alliance Ireland, the former representing individuals and the latter voluntary organisations. Both groups had an opportunity to put forward their views. All these consultations are feeding into the development of the strategy.

Many of the issues being raised by carers are more relevant to the Department of Health and Children than to my Department. At the same time, because they have such wide-reaching terms of reference, they would impact directly on my Department. The work is ongoing under the Department of the Taoiseach and the target is to complete it by the end of the year.

See this speech in context