Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the improvements that have been made and those to which the Minister is committed. I have always acknowledged her efforts in that regard. I look forward to being pleasantly surprised if this application goes straight through the system. I know there has to be an assessment and an adjudication but if this 89 year old woman was in a nursing home, it would cost €950 a week. The few peanuts her son will get will amount to €220 a week. If that is divided by the number of hours he does, he will earn €2.20 an hour. He has to work hard and, for example, he reads the newspaper to his mother every night. I get animated about this issue. The Minister is correct that carers are unsung heroes. There are hundreds of thousands throughout the country and they are worth €6 billion to the economy. If we did not have them, how many hospital and nursing home places would we have to find? Without the people of Ireland, we would be on our face. The Minister recognises that; I know her family background and I know she is committed to this issue. She should try to find a few shillings. That is why the Labour Party is going after rogue self-employment. If we get that €60 million and give it straight to carers, the Minister will have done a great job.

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