John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for agreeing to accept this amendment. She said she will not do anything mad in tabling an amendment when the Bill goes to the Seanad but I hope whatever she brings forward will strengthen provision in this area because a considerable volume of work needs to be done regarding all the issues facing carers. With respect to Family Carers Ireland, what I have touched on encapsulates their priorities set out ahead of the recent budget in their pre-budget submission. I would be the first to say there are more complex issues facing carers across the board and that we need to examine all of those. The Minister said she will not do anything mad but I hope that will not delay this review and report that is so badly needed.

To echo what Deputy Curran said, we need this ahead of next year's budget. Hopefully, it will come before the joint committee in a timely manner. When the Oireachtas joint committee takes on a job of work it is very thorough and produces excellent reports. I am sure the Minister would be the first to acknowledge that in case of the one-parent family report we published. She took on board some but not all of the measures outlined in it. She did not go far enough on some of them but she acted on others and that is to be welcomed. Hopefully, the same will be the case with this report. There are major issues in this area, on which all of us have touched. I am conscious there are also many more issues. It would be a very useful report that, hopefully, would bring about major changes that would benefit not only the people in receipt of care but the carers. Let us get this done. There should be no delay in doing this. This report will be a major item of work for the members of the committee to consider in its engagement with the organisations Let this report be the start of a comprehensive job of work that will ultimately benefit those who need it most and who are saving this State not only millions of euro but providing a fantastic service.

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