Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While the one-off measures contained within the budget are welcome, they do little to hide the fact family carers are still undervalued by the Government. Pension entitlements are still an issue, and whatever increases in money that carers will see are likely to be offset by their having to continue to pay to go private for various therapies because State provision cannot keep up. The HSE recently told me, in regard to a family whose occupational therapist is advocating for respite, that it was not possible to provide a specific timeframe for when respite would be scheduled because there are not enough places available in the south east to meet the demand. Families are getting into debt to go private to address the needs their loved ones have, and the Government thinks one-off payments are going to hide that from us all. What is it going to do to get those services staffed and rolled out?

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