Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have stood in this Chamber many times and spoken of the work being done by the carers of this country. I have spoken of the amount of money they are saving the State, the personal care they give, which is second to none, yet the thanks these people get is that they are means tested. I can quote case after case, person after person, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. We hear a good deal in the Dáil about human beings. I am here to say the carers of Ireland are human beings too. It is about time the Government treated them like human beings. Carers should not be means tested. Very simply, if they are doing a job, give them the carer's allowance. It would cost the country a great deal more if carers did not do their jobs and if they relied on the Government to care for their loved ones. Being a carer, especially in a rural area, is a lonely life, with no supports in general and no financial support for some. Research indicates that, on average, women spend twice as much time caring as men do.

The costs of providing informal care, including losses in paid employment, are disproportionately borne by women. Let us face it, women bear the brunt of this. We are always speaking in the Dáil about equal rights and treating women fairly. Let us start by supporting our carers financially and emotionally, and before anyone starts saying that this is a populist thing to say, it is what my office hears on a daily basis. This is what I hear at my clinics every weekend. This is what I heard at the doors when campaigning recently. It is time this Government got in touch with the people of this country and listened to what we are telling it and abolish the means test for the carers of Ireland.

Supporting carers and allowing elderly people and disabled individuals to live at home is of paramount importance. Not only does it enhance the quality of life for these individuals but it also contributes to a more inclusive and compassionate society. The Government, communities and individuals must work together to create a supportive environment for carers and those they care for. There are so many ways people who are elderly and those caring for them are being treated so unfairly. I would like to raise some issues around home help. Home helps have been providing an excellent service but it is so difficult for so many elderly people to get a home help. It seems as though a system has been built whereby someone has to fall on the ground before they can get the home help instead of caring for the person in their eighties or nineties in their home before it gets to that. If they are cared for properly, they will not end up needing medical or hospital attention. Unfortunately that has not been the case at all here. People are continually having to beg and plead for home help hours. Some are caring for people during the night and are having to care for them during the day. I know quite a lot of people who are begging for half an hour or an hour extra in the week. I meet lots of home helps who say they are willing to do it but they will not be given the job. There is something wrong somewhere along the line. I look at the shocking way elderly people are being treated.

We will all know a person who has cancer. One such person came to me recently. They cannot get a medical card because their income is slightly too high. Surely to God in this day and age we can sympathise with a person when they have cancer and they automatically get a medical card until the cancer is cured, please God, and they can get back to normal life. There is a crazy situation here where, as far as I know, people come into this country and are automatically handed a PPS number and a medical card. These are healthy people. If they were not healthy, I would accept that but if they are healthy, they should not be getting a medical card. However, people here who are not healthy, who have contributed to the economy of this country, who have paid their taxes and who worked hard just need a medical card when they are going through chemotherapy or cancer treatment but, no, they do not get one because they are €5, €10 or €20 over. We live in a cruel society. The Minister of State can shake her head because that is a fact.

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