Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is my fourth time in 12 months to stand in this House to advocate for carers and the abolition of the means test. Seeing as most of what we say seems to fall on deaf ears, I am disappointed, not with respect to the Minister of State, but because we do not have the senior Minister here to deal with this.

There are more than 500,000 carers in this country. One fifth of the population are carers in some capacity. I am going to read into the record what it means to be a carer. This is from the mother of five children, three of whom have intellectual and physical needs. Three of them have a chromosome disorder, t(14;21), which is rare. All three have very complex medical needs, intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities. All three are full-time wheelchair users. Medical issues include brain abnormalities; failing respiratory systems; chronic inoperable cardiac conditions; swallow issues; two are full-time PEG-fed; liver and kidney issues; and osteoporosis. All three have full health insurance with no exemptions due to disabilities as they have had cover since birth. One also has a metabolic disorder and requires a specialised blended diet. Despite all the issues the three children have stacked against them, they are very happy young adults and live life as best they can. I am going to skip what was a very lengthy e-mail to what this lady said at the end of her e-mail.

I am at the stage of frustration and I am worn out. The failure of the health system is a joke. I am a carer, a nurse, a physio, a dietitian, a speech and language therapist, an advocate. I perform minor surgery at home when feeding tubes dislodge. I train nurses and carers in manual handling, food safety and then I am their mother. I have to do the fun things, attend meetings, attend sports games that include going swimming, lessons, etc., just like every other parent, and I must now apply to the courts to be allowed to administer for my adult children who due to their physical and intellectual needs lack capacity. This process is mind-boggling in itself. I am tired.

I do not think anybody could discount what that mother is saying. She is a mother first and the carer comes second. As my colleagues have already pointed out, she is a mother by choice and a carer by necessity. She has five children. She saves this State €1 million per year to keep those children out of residential care. It is as much as that. That is just one carer. We are not talking millions of euro; we are talking billions. Most carers I speak to and deal with in my constituency believe the means test is a punishment on top of everything else they have to deal with, and I feel the very same.

I have seen a 74-year-old wife look after her paraplegic husband for the last three years. She did not get carer's allowance simply because of the means test. This was despite receiving much advice not to take her husband home because she would not be able for it. Her husband passed away recently and let me tell you, she bore his physical disability with honour in the three years that she took care of him and went down in her own physical capacity. As I said, there are 500,000 carers. I ask the Minister of State to look after them in the budget. It is the very least we can do for the service they do this country.

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