Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

As regards Deputy Stanton's point on carers providing care for adults or children with a severe disability, I am not aware if such a study has been conducted. The previous Government made commitments in respect of a carers' strategy. From my own experience, the provision of services is as important as providing income. For instance, the provision of services for a child with a high level disability is absolutely critical. I will come back to the Deputy on the matter.

As regards the European Union and the IMF, I can only say to Deputy Boyd Barrett they have not mentioned the matter to me, but that is not to say they have not mentioned it, perhaps to officials, in their detailed discussions with the Department of Finance. What they said about budget 2012 concerned reductions of €3.6 billion, if I remember correctly. These included reductions in expenditure across the board. However, as far as I am aware, they did not specify any particular areas. As regards social protection, they did specify the need to activate people to move them from social welfare back into education, training and gaining work experience. Mr. Chopra was extremely keen on this, as were some of his associates.

As regards the habitual residency condition, I will have to revert to Deputy Ó Snodaigh in some detail.

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