Dáil debates

Thursday, 29 November 2018

Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill: Report Stage

 

1:40 pm

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

This is an important amendment because carers are the people who are keeping this country running, apart from those who are working. Carers work extremely hard and get nothing for it. They get only a pittance that does not come anywhere near the minimum wage. I heard an example this morning of a lady who has come back from England. She is 50 odd years of age. She worked for 30 years in England and bought a house, which she sold. She brought home approximately €200,000. She is now at home looking after her father, keeping him in his home. She does not want anything from the State except a GP visit card. I asked her what about the carer's allowance. She said she was not entitled to it. I told her of course she was because if her dad had to go into an institution, it would cost €1,200 or €1,500 a week, or more in Dublin. In the country, it is an average of €1,000 or €1,200. She said she would have to go through the means test. It is abominable. This lady is not in my constituency but carers have been a personal crusade of mine since the day I came in here 26 years ago. It is time to abolish that means test. It is deterring a person like that lady who is obviously entitled to it. She is now sending the money she got when she sold her house in England. A trip to the doctor costs €60 or €70.

The problem in this situation is that the demands of caring affect the health of the carer. I saw my uncle doing it many years ago, looking after his elderly mother. It is some demand. I am very proud of people, in-laws, sons and daughters and other relatives who look after people in their own homes. We should salute them.

When I was a councillor I was abused for advocating rural planning. One of the reasons for this was that the son or daughter, nephew or niece could get a house near people in their own area. The great environmentalists said I was an environmental vandal. I was very proud to be an environmental vandal if it meant keeping people in their own place. This is one of the reasons for a review of the carer's allowance.

Deputy Brady is right that the conditions are very restrictive, namely, 15 hours outside the home. I will give an example of his point. I remember a man who had a small farm. He had approximately 25 head of cattle and with a feeder he could feed them in an hour and a quarter every day. I had to go to an appeal with that man. First, there was no understanding that 25 or 30 head of cattle could be fed with a front loader in 20 minutes. They did not accept that and said he had 30 acres. There would not be room to rear a snipe on 30 acres. They did not know but I gave them a bit of agricultural knowledge and let them know that horse was not going to trot. The man won his appeal, and rightly so.

There is a view within the social welfare system that if a person has something, the person will be milking the system by getting something else which is critical. I support this amendment unambiguously. It is a great amendment because nothing has been done for carers since I prepared my report in 2002 or 2003. It is time to consider it again. There were 15 recommendations in that report and we implemented seven. We kept consultants out. Forget about those boyos coming in looking for €50,000 and €60,000 to sit down and look at us. They do not have an ounce of knowledge compared with the people giving the money. This is good. The Minister should not have any consultants, rule them out. We do not want any of them near this review. We will do it ourselves in a committee. We will bring in the Care Alliance Ireland and all the other people involved. Let us get the best way of working this forward. It is an excellent amendment.

I do not know how long I will be here but when I leave this place, I would love to see the means test for carer's allowance abolished. I know it cannot be abolished forever. The caree qualifies on medical grounds. That is the most important parameter. After that, one gets into the nitty-gritty of the carer's allowance. The State is giving only €200. That works out at less than €3 an hour. The State is not being robbed - in fact, it is being subvented because after two to five years of caring, the carer can end by being more ill than the caree. I would say the Minister's heart is in making more improvements for the carers. We acknowledge the improvements made in recent years. The carer's grant is not a lot but it is a lot better than what is available elsewhere. I have done much research on this and it is good.

Many people do not get the carer's allowance but get the carer's grant and that is important. I have been involved with some of those people over the years. I know the Minister does not have a limitless pot and must spread it out. She provided for qualified children this year, which I acknowledge. It is a poverty issue. If she continues in the job, and best of luck to her if she does, this is the area on which I appeal to her to focus because carers are our unsung heroes. As I said on Second Stage, €100 million is needed for part 2 of the national carer's strategy. It is not a question of whether we can afford it because if we do not look after carers, we will end up in trouble. We will pay the price in our accident and emergency departments and in other institutions if we fail to look after them.

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