Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues and Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh for bringing this motion before the House. I also thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. It is a very important motion and I hope the Government will support it. As my colleague Deputy Canney said, I hope this will be included in the forthcoming budget.

I am sure there is not a single person in this House who does not have great regard for the thousands of people acting as carers the length and breadth of Ireland and for the invaluable work they do. However, all the regard and praise in the world is not what the carers want. They want action from this Government. Today, we ask everybody in the Dáil, both on the Government benches and the Opposition benches, to support this motion, which will make a real difference. There is something deeply wrong with a system that is happy to let people save the State countless millions of euro every year only to then put barriers in their way, making their lives even more difficult than they already are.

The last census shows that there has been a very significant jump in the number of people acting as unpaid carers since the previous census was taken. There was an increase of more than 50% in the space of just six years. They are giving tremendous service to this State and are keeping people out of hospitals and nursing homes. It is a proven fact that people live longer if they are cared for at home. This is what the carers do. They keep them at home as long as possible. From my experience of talking to people who have come to me looking for help, I would say that a lot of the increase is down to families often finding it really difficult to access the help they so badly need from our health services. As a result, too many of them have been forced to give up other paid work to take over the full-time care of their loved ones or perhaps to reduce their hours and, of course, their income. The census also found that the greatest percentage of the population acting as unpaid carers was to be found on the western seaboard, that is, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo and my own county of Galway. This is another indication of a gap between the level of services available in the west and in the rest of the country.

The motion before the House today aims to take a relatively small step towards recognising the tremendous work carers do. Households face serious expenses where a vulnerable person, whether an adult or a child, needs the help of a family carer. There are extra equipment and disability aids to be bought and transport and medical care to be paid for. It can run to many hundreds of euro a week and puts massive stress on families who are struggling to pay their bills.

Then, when the carers apply for the carer's allowance, they find that even a roughly modest income coming into the household can result in them failing the means test. We must do better for these heroes of Ireland, and I call them of heroes of Ireland for the work they do. As a first step, we must get rid of the current assistance scheme and replace it with a system of payments to family carers that is not means tested. As I said earlier, they are saving the State billions of euro by their work in the home, the burden of which would otherwise fall on the State's already stretched health services. The upcoming budget offers an opportunity to set this in motion now and have it fully ìmplemented by 2027. As I said, everybody in this House really acknowledges the tremendous work that carers do. They keep people out of hospitals and nursing homes. It is important that the Government takes this on board next week in the forthcoming budget and supports this motion.

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