Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)

I thank Deputy Quaide for all his hard work on this motion. There should be no need for this debate. We are all in agreement that the means test for carers needs to be abolished, so the question is: why do we not just do it now? It is extremely insulting to reduce the work of carers down to numbers on a spreadsheet. It is the only type of work that is means tested like this. Carers who are slightly above income thresholds are often denied any support. People who have carer's allowance live in fear of it being taken away. The process is draining, it is stressful and it is bureaucratic to the extent that some people do not even bother to apply for it.

Of course, to say that this disproportionately impacts women is an understatement . According to the report from the Citizens' Assembly on gender equality, women make up 98% of full-time carers. We are all well aware that linking an entitlement like that to partners' incomes only entrenches economic dependency. The result is far too many women are highly dependent on the income of their partner, exposing them to the very real risk of financial abuse. The impact the means test has on carers is immeasurable, it is exhausting, and it is wrong.

Katie Healy Nolan lives in Cork. She is a carer for her daughter, Penelope, who has a life-limiting illness. On Monday, she told me that caring for her daughter, Penelope, is, "an absolute honour and the most fulfilling role I will ever hold, but I, like so many other unpaid carers feel like we are being punished for caring for our loved ones". Due to means testing, Katie and her family are not eligible for supports. Any savings they had are long gone and recently they had to crowdfund for a downstairs bedroom for Penelope ahead of her scoliosis surgery in February. That is the reality of the means tested system. We hear time and again how the Government values carers, but where on Earth is the evidence of that?

It is important to say the Government is paying lip service to a rights-based approach to disability, particularly in relation to the right to independent living. Disabled people should have a choice on how they live their lives, but that choice is not there at the moment because personal assistance hours and so many other essential supports are threadbare. Under a rights-based approach, family care would be a choice. In Ireland, most of the time it is not.

We have to support carers with more than words. We will not improve the life of carers by tinkering around the edges; by increasing an income threshold. Carers are saving the State €20 billion a year. It would cost a fraction of that, €375 million to remove the means test. That is something the Social Democrats have allowed for in our alternative budget. It is not too late for the Government to do the same.

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