Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. In fairness, a lot of the things he mentioned are very good. However, in my situation, and I am sure it is the same for nearly every TD in the Chamber, many people come into constituency offices with the problem of having loved ones stuck in hospitals and nursing homes, and they have nobody to look after them. Nobody wants to be stuck in a hospital for six or seven weeks waiting for someone to look after them. There is a serious shortfall of carers. Both the Minister and I know the money is good, but it is not going to put bread and butter on the table for a family looking after a loved one. There are many genuine people out there who want to look after their loved ones but the means test is putting them off. It is a no-brainer because it will benefit everybody. The amount of money carers save the State is not thousands or millions of euro; it is a serious amount of money. There are many people out there affected by this. I know many people who are trying to get a place in a nursing home but cannot get one, and many people who are in nursing homes who should not be there. My proposal would be a win-win for everybody. I will put my hand up and say the Government has done a good job on the issue of carers in recent years, but an awful lot more could be done. There has to be an in-between. As the Regional Group will state in our motion tabled for tomorrow, we believe the best way forward is to abolish the means test and try to get these people looked after.

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