Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Harkin for bringing forward this motion. Qualifying for carer's allowance is not easy. People must be means tested, be over 18 years of age and provide care for a minimum of 35 hours per week. They cannot work outside the home for more than 18.5 hours per week. There are 500,000 carers in Ireland with some aged ten to 17 years old providing regular unpaid care for family members. It is estimated that family carers save the State €20 billion per annum but the Government makes it harder for them to qualify to become carers. Does that make sense? The Government itself is supposed to be the carer of the country and yet it makes it harder and harder for people to care.

I know of a family with six acres of land and a couple of cattle. The husband was working the bit of land plus he was working outside; the work on the land was only as a pastime. His wife began to care for his mother and applied for carer's allowance. They assessed a person who had 6 acres of land as a means that prevented a person being cared for at home. What this family had to do was the mother had to go to a nursing home and his wife had to go to work full time to pay for the nursing care. Does that make sense when they are saving the Government €20 billion per annum? Is that caring? I do not think so. We need to make it easier for carers to care for others.

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