Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Deputy knows, and I think spoke about, the fact that the most grievous change relating to carers was the reduction of €16.40 per week in disability payments and other payments related to people who may have been looked after by carers, which reduction was introduced by the Deputy's new party, Fianna Fáil. That would be the strongest communication to me from carers, which is why when I became Minister, I made a choice to prioritise the core weekly payment because carers depend on that.

As most Deputies know, when I became Minister there was a significant backlog, which had understandably built up under the previous Government, given the significant increase in the numbers claiming unemployment and jobseekers' payments. There was a large backlog in applications for carer's allowance, domiciliary care allowance and disability payments. I have prioritised removing these backlogs and am happy to report that there are significantly more people in receipt of carer's allowance, which is their highest priority, than there were when we entered into office.

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