Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)

On my first day in the Dáil last year, the Taoiseach quoted the former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, saying, “You campaign in poetry; you govern in prose.” He then went on to say, “I am not sure that there was much poetry during the recent [general election] campaign”. I saw it differently. Poetry is not always uplifting. Sometimes it recounts sorrow. It is not always magnificent; sometimes it is dark and sad. Poetry is also told in tragedy and defeat.

There was poetry in Kanturk that day in November when a care worker, plunged into poverty by this Government and the ones before it, a woman with little power other than her will and her voice, challenged the most powerful man in the country in a supermarket. There was great poetry in the election results days later, which meant his party returned fewer seats than projected and relegated him to second fiddle versus his rivals in Fianna Fáil. There is a sad rhyming in his replacement, a man who sat at the Cabinet table that crashed the economy 15 years ago now telling the country there is no money to help alleviate the plight of those who care for others.

Rightly, the focus of disabilities is on those who have them. They should be at the centre of the discussion. We must deliver pay parity and good conditions for care workers, in particular section 39 workers, who have been so badly treated. However, I am also conscious of the enormous toll caring has on families and individuals who, out of generosity of heart, help those who are more vulnerable than themselves and, in the process, often make themselves vulnerable. Caring is work. It is hard work. It is some of the hardest work any of us does. All caring is work. It is work that is not glorified. It does not bring riches or fame, but it should bring security and it should, like all modern work in a modern republic, bring dignity. That applies to all of it, regardless of who does it or for whom they do it. The means test, among other ways carers are treated, is an affront to the dignity of that work. It effectively says that at some point for some people, a carer's labour should be free and permanently so, which seems an impossible position for any sane-minded person to take.

It effectively says that at some point, for some people, a carer's labour should be free, and permanently so, which seems an impossible position for any sane-minded person to take. Not only should carers have dignity, they should be valued. They save the State billions, in economic terms, and provide immeasurable love and support for those in our society who desperately need it.

What more noble calling is there in our country than to serve those less fortunate than us. There was poetry in our election, if we sought it, and there will be poetry in our politics again, when the electorate seeks it a few years from now, but there will be never poetry in this Government. For, "Conservatism makes no poetry, breathes no prayer, has no invention...", as a great writer once said. Perhaps the Taoiseach and his Government should read Emerson and expand their repertoire of political thought. Perhaps they should consider the critical role care plays in our society and economy and consider the poetry of supporting the most vulnerable in our society. Voting for this motion to abolish the means test for carers would be a good start.

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