Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the motion and thank Deputies Tully and Ryan for bringing it forward. They are colleagues of mine on the disability matters committee. The motion follows on from one the Regional Group put forward a number of weeks ago, in which we sought for the abolition of means-testing for the carer's allowance.

I want to recap some of what was said during the debate on that motion. More than 500,000 family carers, or one in eight people in the population, are regular unpaid carers. Family carers are the backbone of care provision in this country. However, they often lack support and recognition. Caring intensively over long periods without support or recognition negatively affects a carer's physical and mental health, financial status and social integration.

For many who care for a child with additional needs, their caring role is likely to last for many decades, which has serious implications for their long-term health, well-being and financial security.

Carers are predominantly women, with people in their 50s most likely to provide care. The number of carers increased by more than 50% between 2016 and 2022. It is expected that this trend will continue due to our ageing population. Carers save the State billions of euro each year. We should value this essential care, which is currently valued at €20 billion per annum.

The application of the carer’s allowance means test in respect of household income can make carers financially vulnerable by making them dependent on their partners' income. In many cases, a mother gives up work or a career to care for a child. She cannot get the carer's allowance because her husband is working and the financial means cannot be addressed. As a result, that mother is dependent on her partner or husband's income in order to live. She sacrifices so much and gets nothing in return other than to be at the behest of her partner. It is important that we address this issue. When our group brought a motion on this matter before the Dáil, it was not opposed by the Government. I presume it was accepted. The means test threshold was increased in the past week or two. However, we need to see a strong plan put in place in order that the means test is abolished within the next two to three years. In the meantime, I hope to see an incremental rise in the threshold for income to ensure that people who are carers can have the independence they need.

Our group sought the full abolition of the means test. This was a reflection of research carried out by Maynooth University and commissioned by Family Carers Ireland. It is time that we take up the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands in its pre-budget submission of July 2023 that a high-level officials group to scope out and develop a roadmap for the implementation of a non-means tested family carer support be established. The cornerstone of this debate tonight is to give recognition to carers.

There are other issues at play which people have experienced. Any Deputy who receives representations from carers or people who look after their loved ones will know that overnight respite is virtually non-existent. A family came to my office looking for one night a month respite for their child. They have been told in the past two weeks that they have been accepted and are being put on a waiting list. However, there is no guarantee they will get anything this year.

I had a case relating to a couple who are caring for their son. The mother's sister in the UK died. They were trying to organise respite but could not get it. Eventually, they had to change their plans. The mother had to travel on her own to the funeral of a close family member in the UK while the husband had to stay at home to mind the child. That was just a one-off request for respite from the family in question, and that is what happened. This morning, I was talking to a woman whose mother is in her 80s and has 21 home care hours. However, nobody showed up to provide care at the weekend. When I spoke to the daughter this morning, she said they were just about recovered after the weekend because they were trying to manage a hoist to get the mother in and out of bed. The mother wants to live at home. Sláintecare states that people should be kept at home for as long as possible. The other issue is that the mother's wishes have to be met. I can see that case evolving in such a way that somebody will be in hospital very soon, mentally stressed that they cannot cope. The home help hours have been allocated but people do not show up. This is a major problem in my constituency.

Another issue is transport for people with disabilities. The report by the Ombudsman two years ago advised that it was high time we brought back transport supports for people with disabilities. A primary medical certificate is deemed to be not fit for purpose. There is no way to appeal a decision because it is so restrictive. We have been told that something is going to happen with that. This has been going on since 2011. It is not the fault of the Ministers here tonight, but nothing is happening. The problem is that it is up to the Department of Finance to make a decision. I am of the view that it is up to the Government to make a decision. The transport and mobility supports that were available were taken from people with disabilities who did not apply at the time or who were not there at the time. They are without those supports while other people have them. The system is totally unequal and the quality of supports on offer is really bad.

Another issue that arises relates to people on community employment, CE, schemes who want to take on the role of being carers. When they look for the carer's allowance, they do not qualify because they work 19.5 hours a week on the schemes. The eligibility criterion for the carer's allowance is 18 hours of work a week. It would be only a very small step to increase the threshold to 19.5 hours in order that people could actually be on CE schemes or rural social schemes. The rural social scheme is not an employment scheme. It is a break for the carer to be out in the community. If they can go out during the hours that suit the caring, it is a no-brainer. However, this has not happened. There is a resistance to bringing the threshold above 18 hours.

I am like a recording when it comes to the housing adaptation grant. A review was carried out and is with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. To call a spade a spade, the housing adaptation grant is a key component in keeping people in their homes. I commend the staff in Galway County Council on the work they do in turning around applications as quickly as they do and getting money out to the people who need it. However, the money is inadequate because it does not meet the inflationary costs that exist. This needs to be sorted. The Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform needs to stop stalling on this or holding it back for an election announcement. That is using people’s misery for the purpose of politics. It is time we got this out of the way, particularly as the review has been with the Department for months. We had three Ministers dealing with it. I do not know who is dealing with it at the moment. It could be Minister of State, Deputy Dillon. It was Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, before that and somebody else was dealing with it before that again. The review is with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and it needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

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