Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Independent Group for bringing this important motion to the House in support of our family carers. I commend in particular Deputy Marian Harkin for her advocacy and championing of family carers, not only in this House but also in the European Parliament, which I directly witnessed, and her ongoing efforts in that regard. Those efforts and the efforts of all of us are important because our family carers provide a crucially important service. The fact is undisputed, in my view, that they have been under-appreciated by successive governments. The service provided by carers is invaluable. In many cases it is highly skilled, often exhausting work caring for loved one. Part of the exhaustion, of course, is mental exhaustion arising from promised reforms that have never actually been delivered or that are always just one more review away.

The first thing that is required is a recognition that family carers give a lifetime of care to loved ones and in doing so, they save us all. They save the taxpayer and the Exchequer billions of euro every year. Some of the most frustrating cases any Deputy can be involved are those involving carers trying to secure the carer's allowance for the first time, having to jump through the myriad of hoops that are required in order to satisfy mean tests and deal with the unfairness that is often there.

I commend the Sinn Féin spokesperson in this area, Deputy Clare Kerrane, for publishing A Charter for Family Carers in which we outline clearly what we believe can be done in the immediate term. Of course, some things will take time but measures such as ensuring that carers are entitled to pensions are taking too much time. There are things that can be done very quickly, including increasing the carer's allowance and carer's benefit over successive budgets until they reach the minimum essential standard of living, extending carer's benefit eligibility to the self-employed and increasing the annual carer support grant to €2,000 per year. These are measures that can be taken very quickly and do not require any additional reviews. They can be done within the ordinary budget cycle.

It is unfortunate that Members have to bring motions before the Dáil on this because this is something that we should be unanimous on. I know the Minister has worked closely with family carers in the constituency that we both share and nobody is doubting her bona fides. Carers are one group of individuals who Members from across the political spectrum value and recognise for their work. However, that value and recognition will come down to brass tacks at the end of the day, in terms of the payments that carers receive for the invaluable service they provide, their pension entitlement so that they can have security into the future, and the overall recognition and support structures that must be in place to allow them to continue doing what they are doing, better than anybody else can, which is caring for their loved ones in their own homes. In doing so, they are providing a great social as well as economic service to this State.

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