Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While preparing to bring forward this motion, I thought about the many carers whom I have met and know. We all know many carers in our own communities and perhaps even in our own families. We know carers who are on their own, lone parents who look after a child and who battle to get domiciliary care allowance for that child, for which it can take years to qualify. Last year, the appeals took between 23 and 30 weeks. That is how long parents were left battling to get this allowance for their children and trying to prove that their children had additional needs compared with other children of the same age. That battle is totally unfair and has to be looked at. Carers who are waiting for the bin waiver contribution that was promised in 2017 worry when the bin is collected if they will be able to afford to cover the costs of the disposal of incontinence wear for their loved ones.

Older carers are struggling to keep going and are relying on respite which, nine times out of ten, is not available. When they get to the point where they possibly have to look at long-term residential care, they face waiting lists and increased costs. In fact, I understand that tomorrow the cost of long-term residential care will increase yet again.

Carers continue to lose out. Many family carers were struggling financially long before Covid-19 ever hit. The Minister of State will be aware of the survey of 1,250 carers carried out by Family Carers Ireland in late 2020. Some 70% of respondents were struggling to make ends meet, 57% were either experiencing or likely to experience debt as a result of their caring and over half felt that their financial circumstances were affecting their health. All of that was pre-Covid. Imagine what it must be like to be a family carer looking after a loved one day in, day out, 24-7, and at the same time to be worrying about paying bills, increased costs and just keeping the home warm and food on the table?

Carers are unique in our social welfare system because they are expected to work full-time for a very low payment. It has been blatantly obvious for a long time that we need to address the means test, the income disregard in particular. It is not reflective of wages, which have increased since 2008, or the increased cost of living. That has not been recognised because the income disregard has not changed since 2008.

In the budget before last, the Government increased the hours that carers can work from 15 to 18.5 hours per week. It told carers they could work more outside the home if they wanted to. Of course, that meant earning more, which immediately had an impact on, and reduced, their carer's allowance. At that stage, which was well before Covid when more money was available, the income disregard should have been increased in line with the additional hours. It was a grave mistake that that was not done. Will the Minister of State indicate whether Fine Gael's commitment to family carers is still that set out in the Towards 2016 plan, under which it is proposed to increase the earnings disregard to allow people on the average industrial wage to qualify for carer's allowance?

On the payment rate, a person who leaves work and goes on to receive carer's benefit of €220 per week may be leaving a job that pays €400 or €500 a week. He or she will experience a huge drop in income. We know that over half of people on carer's allowance are on a reduced rate, so they are not even getting that maximum payment of €219. This means that far too many of them are living in poverty. This motion commits to an increase, in the next five budgets, in the carer's allowance and benefit, which is most important for family carers.

On the carer's support grant, I proposed an amendment to last year's Social Welfare Bill to provide that payment be made in two instalments this year. This had been called for by Family Carers Ireland. The support grant needs to increase to €2,000. The Government should consider the option of having it paid in two instalments. That would have gone a long way to recognising and giving carers some help in the midst of the Covid pandemic.

On State pensions, I hope the total contributions approach will do what it is supposed to do, but we need to make sure of that. The National Carers' Strategy of 2012 has not been reviewed since. We are still waiting on the review. Today, in implementing these proposals, every Deputy has an opportunity to give carers who provide loving care to a loved one every day the respect they deserve.

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