Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It goes without saying that the means test must be removed for carers. We all know the financial impact on a home of dealing with a child with additional needs. The issue must be addressed.

I also agree that the discrepancy in the figures must be addressed. There must be some element of flexibility for carers who work as carers, who sometimes go over the 18.5 hours, in particular in cases where they are making up for somebody not coming in. Could we deal with the time over a longer period to allow for that and also deal with these anomalies? We need to make it possible to provide information on working hours on a more regular basis. This must be done with the Department. I have come across people who suddenly get a huge bill and they owe tens of thousands of euro. We need to deal with this issue.

See this speech in context