Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to thank everyone who contributed to this debate. It is obvious, from right across the floor, that carers are really valued for the work they do, but they are a cohort who need support. We need to trust carers more. The 18.5-hour limit was raised consistently. It is too restrictive regarding study or work outside of the home. As Deputy Canney said, they cannot even undertake a community scheme because that amounts to 19 hours. This is something that could be looked at and adjusted. We have to trust carers will provide the care their loved ones need and if they have the opportunity to do some work or some study in that time, they should be allowed to do so.

The respite guarantee is really important because having a break is really important. A break is as good as rest. Having such a high cohort of people who do not even have one night of respite is really important and needs to be addressed.

Supports and services for disabled people in particular are really important. Similar to section 39 organisations and that whole pay parity issue, a lot of the services have not been restored to full capacity after Covid-19. I wish to mention in particular the Irish Wheelchair Association's services in Cavan which, since Easter, are on a Covid-19-type service due to staffing issues. The HSE does not seem to have engaged as it promised it would. I have tabled a parliamentary question on this issue because I want to know what is going on in this regard. There are people and carers who need that service. It needs to be restored as soon as possible. I cannot commend the staff in there enough but they need support.

A lot of people raised different heartbreaking stories and we hear them all the time in our constituency offices. One story which comes to mind is that of a young lady in my area who has locked-in syndrome. The only part of her body which she can move is her eyes. Her family can provide full-time care. The HSE has approved a home care package in which carers are supposed to visit three times per day. That package has never once been fulfilled in total. The family is left in a situation whereby it does not know from one morning to the afternoon to the evening whether it will get the three carers it requires to use the hoist or whether it will get one or two. The family is on a knife edge completely and it is not fair. A statutory home care package for people is really important. Someone made the point that if carers could actually work in a more flexible way and go out, they might be able to provide a few hours of care to another person in another house or something like that. It could be something that is looked at to address the shortage we have in the care sector. It is a very serious issue.

The means test is a big issue as well. It is something which has to be addressed. As I said, I would appreciate getting the difference in the costings the Department has around abolishing the means test and how its costings are €200 million more than the costings Family Carers Ireland, myself and another group have got from the Parliamentary Budget Office. We all need to work on this together to try to find a way to either raise the threshold significantly or abolish the means test completely.

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