Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On my behalf and on behalf of Sinn Féin I fully support the motion in the name of the Deputies in the Technical Group. The motion recognises the absolutely critical contribution of carers in our society and it calls for the reversal of one of the cruellest cuts in budget 2013, the cut to carer's respite grant.

I ask all Ministers and all Government Deputies who were in the last Dáil to go back over the Dáil record and find the many occasions on which most of them spoke in opposition Private Members' time in support of carers - there are a number of examples. They should then try to square their fine words in opposition with their deeds in government. There were choices for Fine Gael and Labour Ministers to make. They pretend that their hands were tied and, in the case of the Labour Ministers in particular, they claim that this left them with no choice but to impose cuts such as the cut to the respite care grant, in breach of their pre-election commitments. I believe that is a false claim.

In our alternative budget and our jobs plan, Sinn Féin presented proposals designed to protect the vulnerable, to tax fairly those best able to afford tax increases and to stimulate the economy to encourage growth and employment. We were not the only ones to do so, but all have been dismissed by this coalition which takes its cue not from the Irish people but from the troika. We identified more than €1 billion that could be raised from wealth taxes and €365 million from a new higher rate for those on incomes of more than €100,000 per annum. If even a fraction of those measures had been introduced, the coalition would have recouped many times the so-called savings made by cutting the respite care grant.

The Carers Association has pointed out that the average cut in income support for carers is 5% in budget 2013 and that is more than twice the average cut in income support to all other recipients of social protection payments, which is 1.8%. The Carers Association is also correct in stating that the respite care grant is a core payment for family carers and is used to buy in-home and residential respite as well as meet the everyday additional costs of caring in the home. This is of course contrary to Government claims that it has protected core social protection payments.

The coalition has claimed that "carers will remain one of the few areas where the Department continues to make double payments in recognition of the valuable work that carers do". However, again the Carers Association points out that family carers who receive this so-called double payment, at a total cost of €100 million, provide care which would, were it to be provided by the HSE, cost the Exchequer €1.5 billion. Carers work for their payment, often 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is estimated that overall, family carers receive approximately €800 million from the social protection budget and save the health budget more than €4 billion.

I again appeal to the Government to reverse this cruellest of cuts in its budget 2013. If it fails to do so we will know for certain that its words in praise of carers are nothing more than patronising waffle and plámás from a Government that preaches compassion but practices punishment of the most vulnerable. On this issue at least, I urge Government to do the right thing or else stop pretending to care for carers.

See this speech in context