Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)

Over 10,000 unpaid carers in Donegal are awaiting next week’s budget in the hope they will finally receive long overdue recognition for the difficult and important work they do every single day. The lack of respect for people who provide an essential service and save the State over €20 billion a year is staggering. Most of us, in our lifetime, will either become carers or be cared for. This is a reality we do not realise until we are faced with the unrelenting responsibility of becoming a carer.

Nobody expects to become a family carer. Sometimes it happens overnight and sometimes it happens over time. As a family carer, your time is no longer your own and you no longer have the freedom or flexibility to go where you like when you like. Caring is not just a daily duty but an ever-present weight that is on your mind. As you are caring in the physical sense, it is not a job for you as a family carer. You are looking after someone you love and you see the decline in your health. That love and care should not be exploited, as it has been for years. This was a burden that was never openly discussed, but always expected to be carried by women and is all too often carried by them. It is called a family issue and kept behind closed doors where women will give up everything to stay and look after a relative. It is just a ridiculous situation they find themselves in, in this day and age. They have no money because they are staying at home to look after somebody when they should be adequately rewarded for this. We fail as a State to recognise what they have given to us. This has been going on for generations and now it is expected. That is wrong and it is exploitation of the highest order.

The carer's allowance as it stands is extremely outdated and gender-biased. The Government has the opportunity to address this in its budget next week. It has the opportunity to abolish the means test and pay carers for what they do. I am urging the Government to join us in supporting this motion and show carers they are valued. Since 2011, there has been an increase of 60% in the number of people who need care. The people looking after them are doing an average of over 80 hours a week. They are saving the State billions of euro but we cannot recognise the people who are providing this. We need to address this before people are left behind without any support. What kind of message is that sending out to carers in this day and age?

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