Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I support the amendment. There is nothing like a personal story to bring home how these rules impact on people's lives. I know a widow whose husband has been dead for 12 years. She has been caring for her daughter who is in her 30s and suffers from Down's syndrome. As a result of the fact that she is in receipt of a widow's pension she does not qualify for carer's allowance, which seems unfair. Such personal implications remind us how mean the means test is. Does the Minister know how many people are excluded form the carer's allowance because of the means test? How much would it cost to abolish the means test?