Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am delighted to be in the Chamber today to again speak on behalf of the carers of Ireland. I accept the Minister of State's bona fides in this regard. I know it is an area he is interested in. While our intentions are quite similar, where we differ is in emphasis. We are very much in favour of abolishing the means test. Like Deputy Canney, I will acknowledge the small progress that has occurred over recent years as regards the threshold and the quantum of the payment. It is good but it is not good enough and we can go further. That is the reason we are strong proposing a roadmap towards abolishing the means test for carer's allowance. This is for three reasons in particular. The first is money, the second is a moral reason and the third relates to gender equality.

My colleague Deputy Fitzpatrick raised this issue with Deputy Donohoe during Leaders' Questions yesterday. From the point of view of money, the Minister pushed back slightly, saying that, as custodians of the public purse, we have to be careful about every single euro this country spends. We agree with that entirely. However, instead of diluting our case for abolishing the means test, it actually reinforces it because any money spent on carer's allowance is money well spent. It delivers cash right to the bedside, the point of care. It is not siphoned off by layers of administration, bureaucracy and management as it goes downstream. From a money point of view, it is money very well spent.

From a moral point of view, most carers are not carers by choice but by necessity. That is the hand the lottery of life has dealt them whether they are looking after a parent, a sibling or a child with a profound disability. The State should never be seen to take advantage of or exploit that goodness and the love in a family unit.

Deputy Canney touched on the gender equality point of view. It is 2024 rather than 1924. It is completely unacceptable. The preponderance of carers in Ireland are female with more than 90% of carers being female. A female's income should not be predicated on the income of her spouse and that is what is happening now. Instead of getting paid for the work they do, a proportion is siphoned off based on the income of the spouse. We do not think that is right.

As a principle, the Regional Group is very focused on an effective State apparatus that actually works on behalf of citizens. Simplifying this measure makes perfect sense. It is a bureaucracy-busting measure. It will deliver money exactly where it is needed and allow for staff to be redeployed to areas where they are more needed.

To back up what my colleague Deputy Fitzpatrick was saying yesterday, Deputy Donohoe said that a working group had been established. This is a point of encouragement and reassurance we got yesterday. The Minister said a working group has been established to review carer's allowance and that it would report in the fourth quarter of this year. That quarter starts next Tuesday, in six days' time. Is there any indication of when in the fourth quarter that report will be submitted? Will it be early in the quarter, towards the middle of it or late in it?

We are strongly of the view that there is still time in the lifetime of this Dáil and this Government to do right by carers. We would argue very strongly for the abolition of the means test for carer's allowance. If the Minister or the Government were to do so, I have no doubt that they would have the support of the entire House.

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