Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group for tabling this important motion. We in the Rural Independent Group tabled a motion before, where we were adamant that the means test should be abolished. It has no place in a modern society because many of the people who are giving care are giving up other employment. They are not earning somewhere else because all they have to rely on is the carer's allowance. They are not doing it for money. They are doing it for the love of what they are doing. That is helping, whether a relative, a neighbour, or a friend up the road. We have excellent people.

I want to talk about the caregivers themselves. I want to talk about the men and women from County Kerry, whether north, east, south, west, or mid-Kerry, who I know personally, who are getting into their cars today, going around and calling from home to home. In every place they are going, I will tell the Minister of State one thing they are not doing. They are not looking at their watch or their clock. They are not worried about what time it is. They are going in and they are seeing after that person who needs their assistance. They are doing so in a diligent and a kind way. They are not doing it for money. They are doing it because they love the people, they have a bond with them and they really provide an invaluable service that saves this State not millions but billions every year. It has been estimated that they save the State between €2.3 billion and €5.8 billion. If you can keep people at home and stop them from falling and maybe getting a fracture and finishing up in an acute bed, you can imagine the difference that it makes to those people to be able to stay in their own homes. The one wish every person will have is that when they finish their time, they will do so in their own homes.

I ask the Minister to please listen to this motion and the people who are supporting it, and do the right thing by the people.

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