Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I also wish to be associated with the tributes paid to the late Nuala Fennell and the expressions of sympathy to her husband, Brian, and all the family.

I welcome the opportunity to open the debate on behalf of the Government which has provided considerable and consistent support for carers during the past decade. Although carers may sometimes believe their work goes unnoticed by the State, their communities and even their families, the important and valuable role played by them in society has been increasingly recognised both at EU level and in Ireland in recent years. Caring for another person may have a very significant impact on carers and their families. This is especially true when care is provided on a full-time basis. Becoming a carer can be a very rewarding experience, but it often means people make great sacrifices, especially when it comes to availing of employment opportunities. Sometimes these sacrifices are made at the expense of the carer's own health.

The national partnership agreement, Towards 2016, included several commitments specifically related to carers. These include commitments to review social welfare payments, consult representative groups and develop training programmes. In addition, many of the commitments related to older people are relevant to carers such as to maximise the use of community and home-based care and deliver home care packages. The national action plan for social inclusion also recognises the valuable role played by carers in society, not only in the commitments specifically related to carers, but also in the sections on older people and people with disabilities.

Who is a carer?

Without being too legalistic, it is worth considering who we mean when we refer to carers. There are a variety of definitions of the word "carer". Current definitions in Ireland stretch from that used in the census, which records people who provide at least one hour of unpaid help per week as carers, to that used for the purposes of qualifying for a social welfare payment, which states that the carer must be providing full-time care and attention to a person in need of such care. Sometimes we use the terms "informal carer" or "family carer". The word "informal", rather than "family", reflects the fact that the relationship between the carer and the care recipient varies with people caring not only for their own family members but also for neighbours or friends.

Whatever we call them and however we define them, the one thing we all have in common is that at some stage in our lives almost all of us will either provide care for another person or receive care. Each Member will have a family member involved in caring. The issues surrounding carers and family care in Ireland are relevant to every one of us and are crucial to Ireland, as a nation, socially and economically. When someone becomes a carer, their circumstances can change dramatically, and often suddenly, and they can find it difficult to cope financially. The person in need of care is often the main wage earner in the family or the carer is elderly and relies on a pension or other State benefit. These and many other factors can put a strain on finances and make it difficult to pay even basic utility bills and living costs. Becoming a carer can have implications for all aspects of a person's life from taxation to transport and from social welfare payments to accessing health services. Reflecting this, services and supports for carers are delivered by a variety of Departments and bodies.

The Department of Social Protection and the Health Service Executive provide a range of supports for carers and it is worth highlighting them. Carer's allowance is the main social assistance payment to provide income support to people who provide older people or people with a disability with full-time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a specified limit. Persons in receipt of carer's allowance also receive the annual respite care grant, the household benefits package and the free travel pass. In the majority of cases, persons who are being cared for will be in receipt of a payment in their own right and will be entitled to a free travel pass. This includes anyone aged over 16 who qualifies for disability allowance.

The 2007 budget provided for new arrangements whereby people in receipt of a social welfare payment other than carer's allowance or benefit and who provide someone with full-time care and attention could retain their main welfare payment and receive a half-rate carer's allowance. Similarly, people in receipt of a carer's allowance who may have an underlying eligibility for another social welfare payment can transfer to that other payment and continue to receive up to a half-rate carer's allowance. As of December 2009, 48,223 people were in receipt of carer's allowance, an increase of approximately 11% on the previous year. Of these, 19,132 were in receipt of half-rate carer's allowance and another social welfare payment. Since March 2005, two carers providing care on a part-time basis in an established pattern have been accommodated on the carer's allowance scheme. This small change can be of significant benefit in helping families cope with the demands of caring.

Carer's benefit is a payment for people who have made social insurance contributions and who have recently left the workforce to look after someone in need of full-time care and attention. Recipients can get carer's benefit for up to two years for each person cared for. By the end of 2009, 1,917 people were in receipt of carer's benefit.

A domiciliary care allowance of €309.50 per month may be paid to the parent or guardian of a child aged under 16 requiring full-time care. This payment is not means tested and it provides for the additional costs involved in providing care and supervision that is substantially more than normally needed by a child of the same age. The parents may also be in receipt of the carer's allowance.

The respite care grant is an annual payment for full-time carers who look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention. The payment is made regardless of the carer's means but is subject to certain conditions. People in receipt of carer's allowance or carer's benefit receive the respite care grant each June. Others who provide full-time care but who are not eligible for carer's allowance or benefit may apply for the grant separately each June.

Free travel is available to people aged 66 or over and who are resident in the State and to people aged under 66 in receipt of certain disability-type social welfare payments or carer's allowance. It allows them to use public transport and a large number of private bus and ferry services free of charge. Free travel is provided to those providing care and satisfying the payment condition in recognition of the additional costs which may occur in assisting the care recipient. The main objective of the free travel scheme administered by the Department is to encourage older people, people with disabilities and carers to remain independent and active in the community. It is an important income support for carers but, more important, a support in helping them maintain their inclusion in the wider community. The scheme permits a recipient to travel for free on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by a large number of private operators in various parts of the country. A free travel customer can also travel for free on cross-Border journeys between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

In addition to this scheme, the Department of Social Protection contributes €1.5 million every year to the rural transport programme, on top of the contribution by the Department of Transport, in recognition of the carriage of free travel customers. It is acknowledged that such customers benefit from the initiative, especially those who had no access to public transport prior to the setting up of the programme.

The household benefits package comprises the electricity or gas allowance, the telephone allowance, which may be paid in respect of either a land line or a mobile phone, and the free television licence. These allowances provide contributions towards an electricity or natural gas or bottled gas refill bill and telephone bill and cover the cost of the television licence each year. They are applied directly to bills, where applicable. The package is available to people aged over 70 who are resident in the State and to people aged under 70 in certain circumstances, including carers. Only one person in a household can qualify for the package at any time. In some cases, this will be the carer; in others, the person being cared for.

The Government is committed to ensuring that, in addition to the necessary income supports, carers receive a comprehensive range of services to assist in the caring role. Caring for a relative who has a disability, is frail or is chronically or terminally ill not only requires a wide range of skills but also requires patience and an ability to empathise at times when they may be feeling vulnerable, stressed and frustrated. The role of carer, while it may be rewarding, can be a 24-7 job and caring can extract a great cost, be it emotional, physical or financial, from the person providing that care.

I refer to the services provided by the Department of Health and Children and the HSE. Home care packages, HCPs, were introduced in 2006 and are tailored to the needs of individuals whose needs cannot be met by mainstream primary, community and continuing care, PCCC, services. They can range from therapy and nursing support for a few weeks after a hospital stay to ongoing daily visits from a home care assistant to help the client get out of bed, washed and dressed. HCPs can include a variety of services such as public health nursing, day care, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, home help, home care and respite care, which are shaped around each client's individual needs. The packages can be provided through a cash grant, which the recipient can use to purchase the care and support they need, or through the organisation of care services by the HSE. They can also be delivered in partnership between the HSE and certain voluntary providers and can often include a respite element at local level.

The packages are enhanced supports over and above existing mainstream community services, with the objective of maintaining older people at home and in their communities. They are also targeted at those at risk of inappropriate admission to long-term care or acute hospitals or those who require discharge home from acute hospitals. The HSE provides approximately €120 million per annum to cater for approximately 8,700 clients at any one time or approximately 11,500 during a full year. Last year, I published a report of an evaluation carried out by PA Consulting Group on the home care package initiative. The independent evaluation found that the HSE was successful in implementing the policy vision to make HCPs a viable option to support a highly dependent cohort. An additional €10 million was provided in the 2010 budget to expand the HCP initiative nationally.

Other supports are provided through programmes such as meals on wheels, day care or home help. Every effort is made to make each service as flexible as possible to meet individual needs. Total home help hours have increased by 25% from 9.1 million hours in 2005 to an estimated 12 million hours in 2010.

Respite services are an immensely important support for carers. These can take many different forms and can be a respite for the carer, the person being cared for or a combination of both. Through these services we are trying to ensure carers can continue to care in a way that benefits their own health and ensures the best quality of life for them and their dependants. Investment has been made by the provision of more than 21,300 day respite care places, benefiting in excess of an estimated 80,000 people, and more than 750 designated respite care beds, benefiting approximately 19,000 people over a full year.

However, when living at home is no longer possible, it is equally important that older people have access to the best possible residential care available. The Government is committed to ensuring that quality nursing home care is available to all who need it. It is worth mentioning, in passing, the nursing homes support scheme, A Fair Deal, which addresses issues of access and affordability, and the standards for residential care settings for older people which address the need to improve quality.

I recently completed a country-wide series of consultation meetings to hear face to face the views of older people, service providers and representative organisations, with a view to the development of a national positive ageing strategy. I am pleased to say we have received submissions from the Carer's Association, Care Alliance Ireland and Caring for Carers. Their views and the information they provide will help us in the formation of the strategy. At all of these meetings, I heard an immense amount of valuable information on a broad range of issues to be considered in the context of the new strategy. In due course, it is intended to publish a report on the consultation process to highlight the issues which older people and service providers have been bringing to my attention.

At the public consultation meetings, participants have suggested how services and programmes can be improved and have given views on what works well and on what could be done differently or in a better way. In particular, they highlighted how service delivery could be enhanced in the light of current resource constraints. While some localised issues have been raised, in general the themes that arose during the public consultation meetings are broadly consistent with those outlined in the written submissions received. The top five priority themes that emerged from the submissions were health and social care, 64%; transport, 40%; social inclusion, 36%; housing, 33%; and income and pensions, 27%. The national positive ageing strategy will set out a common framework for the development of operational plans by Departments. These will clearly set out their objectives relating to older people, as well as the development of ongoing mechanisms designed to monitor progress and identify challenges facing older people in future.

Carers can be any age, from an elderly person looking after his or her spouse, to a teenager caring for a parent or sibling. My colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, recently launched the carer of the year awards, which include a special award for a young carer. He was impressed on meeting the winner of last year's award, a young women who has looked after her mother since an accident left her disabled and needing to use a wheel-chair. Young carers have issues particular to them. I wish to refer to a recently published report on the lives of young carers in Ireland. The Study of Young Carers in the Irish Population, undertaken by the Child and Family Research Centre at the National University of Ireland, Galway, was launched at the Carers Association annual conference. The report found that children are involved in a broad continuum of caring in a wide variety of situations, such as helping with domestic chores and general care, including help with feeding, medication and mobility. It also found that some young carers also provided psychological or emotional support or provided intimate care, involving toileting, dressing and bathing. Young carers also find themselves helping to seek support from service providers, translating and interpreting information, helping with paying bills and with post or telephone calls.

This report is the first national qualitative study of young carers in Ireland and gives an insight into the lives of children and young people who provide care in the home and uncovers the reality of their situation. While the report is preliminary and exploratory, it marks an important milestone in improving our understanding of the positive and negative impacts for children who are involved in caring and makes a positive contribution to policy development and debate on this issue. The authors of the report also said they found it encouraging that many of the young carers or their households received supports from the State, whether in the form of home help or respite care, for example. Dr. Allyn Fives, a co-author of the report from NUIG, in presenting the study's key findings noted that while caring for a family member can have positive impacts for a young person such as greater maturity and compassion as well as closeness to the person cared for by the young person, it must also be recognised that there can be negative impacts, including absence from school, feelings of social isolation, impacts on health, and experiences of boredom, worry and resentment.

I have detailed for Members the various payments and supports available for carers. These indicate that the State and the Government are acutely aware and appreciative of the contribution made by carers. It was for that reason that when resources were available we invested heavily in improving social welfare rates and services for all those who are reliant on the State for income support. Over the past decade, weekly payment rates to carers have increased, qualifying conditions for carer's allowance have significantly eased, coverage of the scheme has been extended and new schemes such as carer's benefit, half-rate carer's allowance and the respite care grant have been introduced and extended. Where people are caring for more than one person they receive a higher payment. This equates to the personal rate for a person with the same means who is caring for one person plus 50% of the maximum personal rate. Recipients with children also receive a qualified child increase in respect of each child.

Since the introduction of the carer's allowance in 1990, payments to carers have been increased and expanded. Carer's allowance was increased in 2007, 2008 and 2009. As a result, even with the reductions announced in last year's budget for carers under 66, the weekly rate of payment for the carer's allowance is still almost 20% higher this year than in 2006 and more than 147% higher than in 1997. The means test for carer's allowance has been significantly eased over the years, and is now one of the most generous means tests in the social welfare system, most notably with regard to spouse's earnings. Since April 2008, the income disregard has been €332.50 per week for a single person and €665 per week for a couple. From June 2005, the annual respite care grant was extended to all carers who are providing full time care to a person who needs such care, regardless of their income. The rate of the respite care grant has also been increased to €1,700 per year in respect of each care recipient since June 2008. The free travel scheme, which I mentioned, has been significantly improved and enhanced in recent years, most notably following the abolition of peak time restrictions in late 2006.

Carers were identified as a priority theme under the economic and social disadvantage category in the dormant accounts allocation for 2007. The focus of the carers' measure is to provide training to assist carers in undertaking their caring role. The Department of Social Protection is the lead Department for this measure and the funding is being channelled through the Department's Vote. Pobal administers the measure on behalf of the Department and is responsible for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the programme. Applications were assessed by Pobal and 12 groups were approved for funding, in December 2008, totalling €1.48 million. The draw-down of funding takes place between 2009 and 2011. The training in most instances commenced in September 2009. The grants range in size, from the Carers Association grant of more than €500,000 and the Caring for Carers grant of almost €250,000, to smaller grants to groups such as the Rosses community development project in Donegal or the Ballinrobe family resource centre in Mayo.

I am very conscious of the needs of carers. I also fully understand that a wide range of other groups, such as unemployed people, parents, pensioners and people with disabilities, depend on the welfare budget for vital support. I want to assure the House that the Government, in the context of a very tough budgetary environment, will continue to do its utmost to protect the most vulnerable people in society.

The requirements of the Department of Social Protection highlight the importance of stable finances. Over the next five years, the Department of Social Protection will spend over €100 billion. All of this must be raised by taxation or by short-term borrowing. Obviously, any borrowing involved must be repaid by the taxpayer at some time in the future. It is clear that if the Government did not ensure that we had a sustainable financial situation, that as the largest single Vote, the Department of Social Protection and its clients would be the first to suffer. This Government will of course ensure we provide this money and this support. It is up to other parties to explain how their policies would maintain the same level of commitment to social welfare clients.

The Government is proud of its unrivalled record in increasing the level of social welfare payments. Over the past 12 years, we have increased pension rates by about 120%, unemployment benefits by almost 130% and child benefit payments by over 330%. The cost of living has increased by approximately 40% over the same period. We extended coverage, removed barriers and increased entitlements, such that the level and extent of social support payments has been transformed beyond recognition. Continuing to reflect the trend of recent years and re-affirming Government's commitment to all those in need of support, some €20.9 billion will be spent by Government in 2010 on social welfare provision, €500 million or 2.45% more than 2009.

On the economy, following eight consecutive quarters of contraction, the latest GDP data show an increase in economic activity during the first quarter of this year, signalling the beginning of Ireland's emergence from the deepest recession ever recorded here. More recent statistics, including soft data, point to a continuation of growth in the second quarter also, so the economic outlook for this year in GDP terms is somewhat better than projected last December. For the year as a whole, an average GDP growth rate of the order of 1% is now anticipated. The exporting sector, especially parts of the multinational sector, has been the driving force behind the recent expansion of activity. Excluding the profits generated from multinational exports means that GNP is likely to decline by around 0.75% per cent for 2010 as a whole. On the assumption that international activity gains momentum and that further competitiveness improvements are achieved, a strengthening of activity can reasonably be expected next year and beyond. The budget day forecast of GDP growth of 3% in 2011, remains achievable.

While there are challenges facing the entire economy, including controlling Government spending, there are significant challenges facing the Irish pension system. In particular, the task of financing increasing pension spending will fall to a diminishing share of the population. There are currently six workers for every pensioner, and this ratio is expected to decrease to less than 2:1 by 2050. Increasing State pension age is one of the ways in which we can sustain the pension system and also maintain the value of the State pension at 35% of average earnings. People are living longer and healthier lives with average life expectancy set to rise even further in the future, up to 89 years for women and 83 years for men. People will still, therefore, be spending at least the same amount of time in retirement as they are today, even with a later State pension age.

Therefore, as announced as part of the national pensions framework, the State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This will begin in 2014 with the removal of the State pension - transition, thereby standardising State pension age at 66 years. This means that the last group of people to receive the State pension - transition will be those who reach 65 years of age in 2013. State pension age will be increased to 67 years in 2021 and to 68 years in 2028. The details and timeframes for these changes are set out in the national pensions framework, which was published on 3 March 2010. An implementation group chaired by the Department of Social Protection has been established to develop the legislative, regulatory and administrative infrastructure required to put the necessary reforms into operation.

In addition to the changes being made to State pensions, both employees and employers must be encouraged to change their attitudes to working longer. At the level of the workplace, employers must seek to retain older employees and create working conditions which will make working longer both attractive and feasible for the older worker. Where this is not possible and people leave paid employment before State pension age, they will be entitled to apply for another social welfare payment until they become eligible for a State pension, as is the current situation.

This framework will have an impact on carers. People who leave the workforce for periods spent caring can have gaps in their insurance records which can affect their entitlement to a State contributory pension at age 66. The homemaker's scheme, introduced in April 1994, allows for periods spent providing full-time care to children up to 12 years of age or an incapacitated person to be taken into account for pension purposes. It does not provide social welfare payments while homemaking. Persons in receipt of carer's allowance, carer's benefit and the respite care grant may engage in employment, self-employment, training or education outside the home for up to 15 hours per week and still be considered to be providing full-time care and attention for the purposes of the schemes. This means that where a carer remains in employment, he or she will continue to pay the appropriate social insurance contribution. Also, any person, including a carer, may pay voluntary contributions once they satisfy certain qualifying conditions. The social welfare pension rights of those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties are protected by the homemaker's scheme which was introduced in and took effect from 1994. The scheme allows up to 20 years spent caring for children or incapacitated adults to be disregarded when a person's social insurance record is being averaged for pension purposes.

However, the homemaker's scheme will not of itself qualify a person for a pension. The standard qualifying conditions, which require a person to enter insurance ten years before pension age, pay a minimum of 260 contributions at the correct rate and achieve a yearly average of at least ten contributions on his or her record from the time of entering insurance until pension age is reached, must also be satisfied.

People who qualify for payments such as carer's allowance or carer's benefit may, subject to conditions, qualify for credited contributions for the period they receive the payment. As part of the national pensions framework, homemaker's credits will be introduced for new pensioners from 2012, with backdating to 1994, to replace the current homemaker's disregard.

For many of us, especially as we get older, our first choice is to remain living at home in the communities we belong to and are familiar with. Government policy is to support people to live in dignity and independence in their homes and communities for as long as possible. Where appropriate, the health service also supports access to quality long-term residential care. This policy approach is renewed and developed in the partnership agreement, Towards 2016. I understand that people requiring care face particular challenges daily in their lives and that family carers have to make sacrifices to look after their loved ones. I have set out in the foregoing the very definite steps the Government has taken to ensure these vulnerable groups are protected to the greatest extent possible. This Government is well aware of and values the contribution made by carers. The actions of Government in enhancing provisions for carers in recent years reflect that fact.