Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)

The Taoiseach is acknowledging the need to abolish the means test for carers, from what I can gather. There is a commitment to abolish it over the term of this Government. The question is this: why wait? The Taoiseach says we do not acknowledge the work being done. I am acknowledging that this kind of work - these incremental reforms and the piecemeal things he is talking about - are bureaucratic.

Carers deserve better. They deserve fair pay and dignity now. They deserved it yesterday. They deserved it years ago. The Government can do this now, but it is still being denied to them. The Government has a choice. It can choose to provide immediate recognition, security and support for carers. It is not too late to do that in this budget. I keep coming back to this point. In no other work are people means-tested like this. They are just paid for the work they do. People live in a state of fear and anxiety that any meagre change in their incomes will tip them over a cliff edge into financial insecurity as a result of the system we have in place now. The Taoiseach acknowledged the need to do this over the term of the Government. It can be done overnight in this budget. The money is there.

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