Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise one of the bad decisions made by the Government and it concerns the decision on the respite care grant. The Government has cut €325 from 77,000 families, 20,000 of whom receive no other State payment. All of the families care for people, many of whom have severe disabilities, including children. The Minister needs to reverse this decision. Fairness was breached in the budget comprehensively but this cut is not even about fairness but about decency. Making this kind of cut breaches decency. The backbenchers will make much noise while indulging in amateur dramatics and theatrics on a range of issues. On this cut to respite for families who give care to people, the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues must back down.

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