Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is why every year in social welfare we have been able to provide approximately an extra €200 million per year in each budget for all of those extra older people, carers and people getting the domiciliary care allowance in respect of their children. That is true; Deputy Troy is absolutely correct. The cost is in excess of €200 million per year.

We have difficult choices to make. When I met, as I do several times per year, representatives of carers' organisations, they emphasised maintaining the weekly rate of the full carer's allowance, which is significant. When we had to make savings in the context of the country's difficulties and we were spending significantly more in that area in total because of the extra numbers, I made a difficult choice. I know it was difficult for a lot of carers, but they and their organisations emphasised to me the primacy of maintaining the weekly rate. I am happy to say that, as Deputy Ó Snodaigh will be aware and as he surely told the people who came to his meeting, the carers and families who receive the domiciliary care allowance and the people with disabilities or older people for whom carers care will all receive small, but significant and important improvements for them and their families in the budget. First, in the first half of December, we will be paying them the Christmas bonus. For an individual carer, this will be somewhere around €50 or €60. If other people in the family are on social welfare and, as the Deputy has suggested, the carer has a number of children-----

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