Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said, the review of means testing will look at everything. It is income. It is like the SUSI grant, where parents work extremely hard all of the hours God sends them in preparation to send a child to college. Suddenly the parent is assessed on the previous year's income, which they had worked so hard to get. Unfortunately, when we have means testing there will be cut-off points. In changing the system, I raised the limit to the €750 mark. That change included a lot more people. However, when there is a cut-off point somebody is going to lose out. I understand the situation the Deputy is talking about.

In terms of carers, I would also like to see the HSE and the Department of Health step more into this space. I cannot pay people for the work they do; I can only support them in terms of their income. We should consider how we reward carers for the work they do.

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