Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)

For years, the struggles faced by family carers have been raised here in the Dáil and in communities across Ireland. Family Carers Ireland has told us clearly that carers' situation needs to be treated like a house on fire. Budget 2026 was the Government's chance to take on that fire. Instead, this Government has arrived with little more than a water pistol. Last week in the Dáil, TD after TD from all sides of the House stood up to praise carers and spoke of the need to scrap the means test. We spoke of the immense pressures on family carers, that families were at breaking point, and that carers were physically exhausted, emotionally drained, financially crippled and dependent on others. How does the Minister justify placing just an extra €10 on the carer's allowance? How does this miserable increase in the carer's allowance balance against the incredibly valuable work that Government Members all praised just last week? I put it to the Minister that €10 is an insult to the 24-7 care that thousands of family carers give day in, day out to loved ones. A €10 rise shows just how utterly out of touch the Minister and her colleagues are with the struggles that family carers are facing.

Our farming sector is facing multiple challenges, from Mercosur to a demographic cliff edge. Macra na Feirme, which represents young farmers across Ireland, has spelled out clearly that this Government continues to fail to tackle the issue of generational renewal. This issue is clear for us to see. Ireland now has one of the lowest rates of young farmers across the EU. At the same time, one third of our farmers are over the age of 65. This is not just a statistic. It spells out clearly the looming crisis for one of our largest and most vital industries. I have four sons at home on our family farm. They love being out working on the land. Farming is part of their identity but I struggle to see any future for them in farming. It simply should not be this way. The support should be there for all young farmers across Ireland. This is the third budget in a row where we have seen no meaningful commitment to support young farmers or to address the issue of farm succession, which shows that these matters are clearly not concerns for the Government. Last week at the committee, we heard of the struggles facing the tillage sector. We heard the Minister's own colleagues calling for supports for farmers who were struggling in every sense of the word. The sector is bleeding and the best that can be done by this Government is to stick a plaster on it.

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