Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

They are contributors to the economy. Their skills can be used in so many ways and we greatly need them in so many areas in our country, from teaching to helping out in different spheres. They are not a burden. They are active contributors.

On the one hand, we look on them as a burden and during Covid we told them to stay behind closed doors, yet we utterly ignored those over 66 who were working in a very rude way. The ESRI quarterly economic commentary in the summer estimated 65,000 people above the age of 66 - that is all - reported being in some form of paid work in the final quarter of 2019. Such workers are not entitled to make a claim for PUP or jobseekers’ payments and, in most cases, they have lost employment. For the life of me, I cannot understand how that very restricted number of people have been excluded. At the same time, we are talking about increasing the pension age. It simply does not make sense.

In regard to the cost of disability, while I do not welcome it, I acknowledge there is a report from Indecon that is looking at this issue. The Minister might confirm the cost of that report on the cost of disability payments, something we have all asked for. If we are seriously interested in bringing equality, that is the most basic payment we could have. The Minister might address the cost of the report and when it will be published, and come back to me in regard to her own views.

In regard to carer’s allowance and the once-off payment that is not means tested and not taxed, I very much welcome that. However, the Minister perhaps captured the contradictions in the Government's approach to equality. She stated: “Section 11 provides for an increase of €150 in the carer's support grant, raising the payment to €1,850, the highest level at which it has ever been set.” To celebrate that, one has to put it in context and she is not putting any of it in context in regard to what carers do. They are to be grateful for the €150 extra, which is welcome, but without any context whatsoever. The context is that carers are saving the State a fortune, day in, day out, and I think the Minister believes and accepts that.

Family Carers Ireland figures show that 79% of those on carer’s allowance struggle to make ends meet. More than half of carers, some 52%, who participated in the State of Caring survey live in households with a total income of less than €30,000 per year. Almost one in three, or 29%, live in households with a total income of less than €20,000 a year. They had to put up with reduced home help hours during the pandemic. Prior to that, they had to put up with hours that were given to them through the new computer approach - I forget what it is called - where there is a one-hour to two-hour assessment on a computer, and the computer tells the family how many hours are needed. It has absolutely nothing to do with the level of dependence of the person.

I want to give one example from my area of Galway without identifying the person. This person is minding somebody who has all the symptoms of senile dementia at a young age - their 50s - and there has been no respite care whatsoever since the pandemic started. Of course, prior to the pandemic, respite care was at a premium in any event but, during the pandemic, there has been none. When you are talking about carers and clapping yourselves on the back - I do not mean the Minister personally but it is what she said in her speech - it does not strike a musical chord with me because I just see that person and that family as one example of the thousands who are struggling on a daily basis, up all night, up early in the morning, trying to care for their loved one, with absolutely no respite and limited hours.

There are several other issues I want to highlight in the short time left to me. The core rates of social welfare were left unchanged. There is no movement at all to introduce a universal state pension. As I said, there was no change to the cost of disability payment.

Domiciliary care allowance was not increased and no steps were taken to equalise jobseeker rates for those between the ages of 18 and 24 and living at home. There is no mention of those in direct provision and a possible increase in their allowance, as recommended by Dr. Catherine Day.

We were to learn from Covid-19 and have a transformative change in our lives because we know we cannot go back, either in terms of climate change or inequality. If we do not deal with inequality, we will never be able to face the next wave of whatever pandemic comes our way after this one.

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