Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be sharing some time with Deputy David Cullinane. At the beginning of this debate the Minister for Health described family carers as the "backbone" of caring in our State. I will put on record some of the words of the backbone of care in our State:

I am so fed up and worn-out from fighting for the basic rights of my daughter.

With so little support, I live in a constant state of distress and worry for my child. I regularly cry myself to sleep at night.

I do not get a break but I am at breaking point. Who will look after my elderly parents if I get Covid?

At the end of the day carers are not part of the old boys network, so we do not get the deals and bonuses that the Government seems happy to hand out to [its] buddies.

These are the words and experiences of family carers who are among the very best and most decent people in our society and yet for far too long they have been abandoned by the State and certainly forgotten during this pandemic.

It has been a very difficult year for everyone but now is the moment to turn the page on how family carers are treated by the State. Our plan, proposed in this motion, is simply designed to give carers a break by ensuring that they are prioritised for vaccination, increasing access to respite and improving supports, including financial supports. The work that family carers do is tough and exhausting. There is no clocking in or out and they are at work every hour of the day. There are no words to describe the importance of the work, which is done with such dignity and love. Behind closed doors they move mountains and perform small miracles every day.

Although the work that family carers do is the work of compassion and kindness, family carers are workers. They are front-line health and social care workers who save the State as estimated €20 billion per year. Nevertheless, they are left behind and ignored. They have much tea and sympathy but when it comes to real respect in the form of support and services, family carers are forgotten by the Government time and again.

This constant neglect comes from a fundamental dysfunction and the cruel way the State treats its most vulnerable people. Instead of the Government prioritising vulnerable citizens and their families, what we get is hostile Departments compiling dossiers on them in an effort to undermine legal cases against the State. When the State has such warped priorities, is it really any wonder people with disabilities and their carers have to fight tooth and nail for proper supports and services? It is no surprise at all.

During the pandemic, when services were either withdrawn or curtailed, as the virus cut off the support of family and friends, family carers were left trapped and isolated in the fight to keep their loved ones safe. As loved ones with additional needs regressed during lockdown, the frustration, worry and fear has been tangible for these families. This sense of abandonment has crystallised around the question of vaccination. After months of hardship, the news of vaccines brought a chink of hope and relief for many family carers. It came as a punch in the gut for family carers that they would not be prioritised for vaccination.

The refusal to afford family carers priority boggled the mind and begged fundamental questions of this Government. Carers asked, very reasonably, who would care for their loved one should they become sick with this virus. Yesterday, we discovered that family carers definitively will not get the priority they deserve. This has been a kick in the teeth to them. They will be joined by childcare workers, special needs assistants, teachers, gardaí and those working in retail and transport, in other words, the front-line heroes who went above and beyond over the past 12 months. The people we have saluted and acknowledged for keeping society on the move and keeping us safe are now to be set aside.

Is cinneadh náireach é. Tá cúramóirí, múinteoirí, cúntóirí riachtanas speisialta agus gardaí go léir fágtha ar gcúl gan aon rannpháirtíocht. Tá ár dtacaíocht tuillte acu. Is laochra túslíne iad. Tá a gcuid déanta acu. Choinnigh siad slán muid go léir. Is slap san aghaidh é do na hoibrithe seo.

This is a slap in the face. The Government changed its vaccination strategy simply because it did not have its work done. The Government and the State failed to provide the correct mechanisms to roll out an effective and safe vaccination strategy. That is the truth of the matter and front-line workers will pay the price for that. Family carers will again be set aside and left aside.

The Minister has indicated that the Government will not oppose the motion we have brought before the House but we ask much more than that. We want the Government to support the motion and go further that again by ensuring all the provisions set out in our plan are realised. It is time to change the present and the future for the hundreds of thousands of family carers in Ireland. If we are prepared to work together, we can do that. We can move from a situation of neglect to one where family carers are truly valued. When somebody asks who cares for the carers, the answer should simply be that all of us do.

I ask every Deputy to back this plan and to ensure it is implemented. I ask Government Deputies, in particular, to show up for family carers by urgently implementing the measures that we as a Dáil will agree this morning.

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