Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not think anyone here would disagree with the Deputy's assessment. I will ask my Department to do a lot of work on the supports that are available to carers. They are often so engaged in giving the care that they do not have the chance to know of the full supports that exist, many of which are not mean tested, including the carer's support grant, carer's benefit, the domiciliary care allowance and the various other supports that are available. We will be asking the Department to do a great deal of work on that this year in order to provide information to carers on the channels and the full range of supports available and to ensure that they are using those supports, which are in recognition of the very important work they do.

As stated, prior to the budget later this year, I will be engaging with the carers groups at the annual carers forum. That forum provides family carers with a voice at policy level and gives officials from my Department the opportunity to engage directly with people experiencing care issues. The forum will allow us to plan our approach to the next budget, with carers at the heart of that approach.

See this speech in context