Margaret Cox (Fianna Fail)

We must create an economy that can sustain our commitment to looking after the less well-off, the poor, those with a disability and those on their own. The Minister has increased the carer's respite grant to €835. That grant is one of the most welcome cheques in any household in a year. It is not just a grant that goes directly to the carers of older people, but to the parents of children with a disability. It can sometimes pay for a most needed weekend away. The income disregard has been increased to €250 per week or €500 per couple. That means more people are receiving carer's allowance on a weekly basis. It would be great to get rid of the income disregard and to give carer's allowance to everybody but that is not possible. Every year we chip away at ensuring that more people are eligible to claim carer's allowance.

The death benefit pension is being increased to €173 per week. In association with the Department of Health and Children, the Minister has taken on board many innovative projects in the area of home care for the elderly. These are being examined and pilot schemes are taking place in the north west and in the Western Health Board region. These pilot schemes are examining how we can look after our people and make the best use of either subventions paid directly to nursing homes or, instead of being paid to a nursing home, to carers as a way of setting up a system of care where people would not have to go to nursing homes.

The social welfare system is about looking after people in most need. That is what this social welfare system does. We provide unemployment assistance, unemployment benefit, disability benefit, carer's allowance, carer's benefit, child benefit, sick pay benefit and pensions. We have not forgotten promises made. They were not empty promises. We talked about changing maternity leave. Senator Cummins is right that the improvements in maternity leave came from here. That was because Members, and especially the female Members, stood together in the debate with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, and asked him to stand up against what was coming from Europe in terms of improvements in maternity benefit.