Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputy Halligan on tabling this motion on behalf of the Technical Group. It is also timely this should be discussed after the debate on the cut in the respite care grant last week. The motion provides for supports, both in income and in other ways, that would recognise carers and would show clearly we as a society and as a State value them and the work they do.

It has been widely stated in the House the contribution carers make to the State but it is worth saying again. Carers save the State more than €4 billion annually and the expenditure of €771 million in support pales into insignificance when compared to this saving.

The Government amendment last night started off by crowing about the Government view that the financial supports provided in Ireland are far greater than elsewhere in Europe. Is that meant to be some great comfort for carers? The reason supports might be the highest in Europe is that successive Governments have refused to provide any services worth talking about for citizens in need of care. Governments have decided the easier option is to provide money to carers, rather than providing support for patients, and the reason for that is explained in the savings the State accrues from the care the carers provide.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, also stated the respite care grant is higher now than it was in 2002. That is really something to be proud off; ten years on, carers should be able to expect the grant would recognise the increased costs they face and the fact it goes to providing much needed resources for their loved one. It is telling that only 5,000 of the 76,000 people in receipt of the grant are not receiving another carer's payment. This shows the grant is an income support and should not have been cut in such a callous way.

The Minister of State said our budgetary challenges did not preclude the publication of a national carers strategy. It is good to know the Government can still produce reports in these difficult times. The vision statement of the strategy is worth outlining in the House. It states carers will be recognised and respected as key care partners and they will be supported to maintain their own health and well-being and to care with confidence. It goes on to say they will be empowered to participate as fully as possible in economic and social life.

Apart from the complete lack of any concrete commitments in the strategy that could be seen as clear deliverables, the vision statement itself shows the strategy will fail, and is failing, carers. There are not many carers in our society who feel recognised and respected. Where was the consultation with carers about their needs in the run up to this budget? The strategy states they will be supported to maintain their own health and well-being. How can that be squared with the cut to the respite care grant? Yesterday on the radio, I listened to a woman who returned from England to look after her mother who cannot get any support because of the habitual residence condition. They must both live on less than €200 per week. Surely this will affect their health and well-being, having to survive on so little and fight a bureaucracy that will not respond to their clear needs.

One of the national goals of the carers strategy is to provide for the training needs of carers. The Minister of State really had to search to find this one. Clutching at straws, she had to go back to 2008 to find some evidence of support for training, citing the Dormant Accounts Fund allocation of €1.8 million for training. One group received €10,000 to train carers five years ago. How can the Minister of State even think about putting that into her contribution?

We were then treated to a lecture about how the markets determine our policy and that we must placate them to be able to borrow on them again. To imply this was done in response to the markets because the Government had no option but to do this is disingenuous in the extreme. As if the markets will look at how we support carers and decide on the viability of our economy on that basis. The only thing that matters to them is whether they will be repaid.

They probably have not been able to believe their luck, in that this Government has continued the policies of Fianna Fáil, ensuring it gives back every penny. Societies that have a greater measure of social cohesion, such as the Scandinavian economies, are far more likely to be able to continue to pay their bills. In general, the economic crisis has not shown in those countries in the past five years. That is the type of society we should be trying to build, rather than pander to the so-called markets.

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