Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group on using their Private Members' time to debate this issue. Last week at the Committee of Public Accounts, we had the pleasure of hearing from Mr. John McKeon, Secretary General of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Having asked the same question on several occasions in this House and before that in the Seanad, I again queried whether any research had been done on the potential benefit of loosening or relaxing the means test for the carer's allowance, which, together with the provision of a medical card, some home help hours and perhaps a housing adaptation grant, might help to afford people the dignity of staying at home and avoid the necessity of paying out an average of €1,000 per week in fair deal costs or €1,000 per day for an acute bed. Remarkably, as is so often the case, the impermeable walls between Departments, much like the pigeon holes in Leinster House reception, are such that nobody speaks to anybody else. The answer from Mr. McKeon was no, the matter had never been investigated. An official from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform who was in attendance at the same meeting confirmed that the matter had not been looked into by that Department.

Instead of talking to each other in this House and making all the right sounds superficially about what could, should and might be done, will the Minister of State bring together the Secretaries General of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Health to examine whether a relaxation of the means test for the carer's allowance, together with the provision of some additional supports, would result in an overall saving for the State? My expectation is that we could save a great deal by taking that approach, which would additionally have the great advantage of allowing people the dignity of remaining in their own home in later life. Will the Minister of State speak to the Secretary General in his Department to see whether such a consultation may be commenced? I understand there is some type of management administration system whereby the Secretaries General of the various Departments get together from time to time. Perhaps they just have coffee, but as I learned last week, they certainly do not discuss a cross-departmental approach to schemes like this. Will the Minister of State be the pioneering person who takes the initiative and knocks a few heads together to see whether the approach I have outlined can be made to work and what savings it might produce?

See this speech in context