Results 341-360 of 1,040,423 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Jack Chambers OR speaker:Alan Farrell)

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Richard O'Donoghue: Carers. It is in the wording. It is carers. I am from a family of 11. In his last number of months and years, people came to care for my father. As a big family, we were able to do much of it ourselves but we had people who came in part-time. I cannot thank people who do that kind of work enough. The dignity and the home life they have, being cared for in their own home, is...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Danny Healy-Rae: I thank the Regional Group for this important motion and for giving us the chance to debate it. The Government appears to be fudging on this. Support is not good enough without acting and providing the carers with the facility so that they do not have to go through a means test, because many carers are seeing after people out of the goodness of their heart. One thing that people who need...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: I thank the Regional Group for tabling this important motion. We in the Rural Independent Group tabled a motion before, where we were adamant that the means test should be abolished. It has no place in a modern society because many of the people who are giving care are giving up other employment. They are not earning somewhere else because all they have to rely on is the carer's allowance....

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Michael Ring: I thank the Deputy. The next up is People Before Profit-Solidarity, and Deputies Paul Murphy and Mick Barry. They have six minutes in total.

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Paul Murphy: Eight, I think. It is just me.

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Michael Ring: It is just Deputy Murphy. I thank the Deputy.

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Paul Murphy: I welcome this motion. It is good that we are discussing it. We in People Before Profit are long-time supporters and advocates of abolishing the means test for the carer's allowance. We have included it in our alternative budget, which we will be launching on Friday. We are also proposing turning the carer's allowance into a non-means-tested living wage of at least €15 an hour, or...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Denis Naughten: Clarity of focus.

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Seán Sherlock: There is also clarity of thought and purpose, as Deputy Naughten said. The Minister of State said: The reality is that abolishing the means test would result in people who may have higher sources of income benefitting while reducing the scope for the Department to provide income supports to lower income thresholds. He went on to say, "Officials in the Department have conservatively...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Gary Gannon: I thank the Regional Group for tabling this is an important motion. We have seen many others like it over the past 18 months. The motion is a reflection of the justified pressured that is placed on all of us as public representatives when we knock on doors, meet people and hear these hard stories. A sum of €600 million to abolish the means testing for the carer's allowance does not...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Martin Browne: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. I also thank the Regional Independent Group for bringing this motion before the House. For people who contribute so much to the well-being of people who need care, it is unjustifiable that carers are expected to contribute so much, yet are expected live on payments that fall way below the established minimum essential standard...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Paul Donnelly: I thank the Members for bringing forward this motion. We all know that there is absolutely no doubt that there is a need for reform in the carer's allowance scheme. I, like many others, have met many carers in the work that we do, in our canvassing and in chatting with people. The work they do is absolutely immeasurable. If we were to count that support and their care in just monetary...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: We are back in here talking about carers and I really welcome the opportunity and thank the Regional Independent Group. The fact is that we are all going to talk about the huge savings to the State through the great effort that is put in by carers and how we could not operate without them but we still fail in delivering for them. We could probably have this conversation forever and we are...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Michael Ring: I thank the Deputy. He has had more time than anybody else. I call Deputy Sherlock.

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Seán Sherlock: I rise to support the motion and while we acknowledge that the Government is not opposing the motion, they are certainly not supporting it. That has to be said. 11 o’clock The motion is very clear and succinct. It is refreshing that there is such brevity in the wording of a motion.

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Pauline Tully: I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward the motion and affording us the opportunity to again discuss the important work of family carers, and the need to review and reform supports for them. Family carers have long been held up as the crucial pillar of care and support in Ireland. We have various strategies and documents referring to the important role that family carers play in...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Martin Kenny: I commend the Regional Group on giving us the opportunity to discuss this. The issue of carer's allowance is something on which every TD and Member of Parliament has been inundated, probably for years now, by families with people with disabilities, or those with a relative who has an operation, comes home from hospital and needs constant care. As was said, most of the people doing the care...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Johnny Mythen: I thank the Regional Group for bringing the motion forward at this timely junction before the budget. Every single Deputy either knows someone who is a carer or perhaps has a family member who is a carer. We have all come across cases of people who are just beyond the threshold to receive the carer's allowance. For example, John lives with his wife in County Wexford. His wife has...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Peadar Tóibín: Gabhaim buíochas leis an nGrúpa Reigiúnach agus le Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh mar gheall ar an obair atá déanta acu ar an rún seo. I thank the Regional Group and Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh for their work on the motion. Aontú supports the end of the means test for the carer's allowance. The reason we support it is that, no matter what background one is from or...

Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: We have had this discussion time and again, and several words emerge time and again. Recognition and respect are a great deal of it, but not just recognition and respect. The fact is that when one looks at people in poverty or at risk of poverty in Ireland, three categories of people, namely, people with disabilities, single parents and carers, are consistently up near the top. I...