Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thought the Minister of State's fellow Government Members would have been only too delighted to come in and stick up for carers. They are saying one thing in the constituency and doing a different thing when they come into this House.

The carers carried out a survey between 31 October and 3 November. Of the carers who took part 26.7% rated their stress level at 5 on a scale from 1 to 5. They are stressed out of it. Some 45.8% rated their stress level at 4 and 22.5% rated it at 3. Some 75% of them said they were more stressed now than they were 12 months ago. The Government has closed their valve for letting off steam. The respite care grant was a mechanism by which people could avail of a service, a couple of nights a month, once a week, once every fortnight or however it best suited them. It was an opportunity for them to release the pressure and have some time for themselves. The biggest worry for many carers is what will happen to their loved one if the carer falls sick. This is a cruel cut. The Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, is wrong in calling it a modest cut. It is not at all modest - it is a 20% cut in a grant to carers, who provide invaluable service not alone to their own families but also to the State. They are saving the State in excess of €4 billion per annum. This comes on the back of savage cuts to home-help hours.

Alternatives have been proposed by people on this side of the House, but the Government did not want to accept those alternatives. They were costed by the Department and through parliamentary questions, but the Government did not want to accept them and instead took its own political choice which was to cut the respite care grant.

I listened to the deliberations of the Minister, Deputy Burton, in the Seanad earlier today. She said she would publish a report on the future of child benefit at the end of January. She was saying that to appease some Labour Senators who are getting wobbly at this stage. Why does she not publish these reports before the decisions are taken? Why do we not change the way things are done in this House? Why do we not all consider how we can achieve better savings in the various Departments, not after the horse has bolted but before the die is cast?

Having spoken to a number of officials and retired officials from the Department of Social Protection, last week I made suggestions to the Minister, Deputy Burton, for reducing the amount of fraud. Nobody can stand over somebody knowingly making fraudulent claims. However, the Minister did not seem to comprehend that is another alternative. I do not know how anybody in their right mind or anybody who is interested in fairness and equality could vote against this motion tomorrow evening. I compliment the Technical Group on tabling it and giving us an opportunity to speak on the matter in the House again.

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