Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Those people deserve much more than this State has ever granted them.

We have examined the figures, as has the Carers Association. When the water charges are included, every family carer will be financially worse off next year than he or she is this year. I have the figures and can give them to the Tánaiste later if she wishes, but her Department is well capable of running them as well. The Tánaiste can prevent this situation from happening. Will she please use the Social Welfare Bill to restore to carers the €325 that the Government cut from the respite care grant two years ago? It would cost approximately €30 million.

That is substantially less than half of what the Government spent on consultants in Irish Water. Such a restoration would send out a solid message to carers and would be a badly-needed investment in carers. I ask the Tánaiste to give thought to this matter, as she has a number of weeks in which to take this appropriate action. Moreover, she would be praised were she to look again at the budgetary arithmetic and to find the money, whether it comes from Irish Water or wherever, to ensure these carers are properly appreciated rather than what is happening, which is they no longer are being appreciated because their income will be cut next year.

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