Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

I welcome the Minister of State for one of the most important debates in which I have been involved. Although it is not possible, I would like the Minister for Finance to sit beside the Minister of State, given that we will soon be facing into a budgetary process that, irrespective of whether we like the idea, will place considerable pressure on front-line services. We need to ensure such services will remain untouched.

As a Green Party Member, I was critical of Fianna Fáil when the Green Party was not in government. During the Celtic tiger years considerable progress was made in the provision of support for carers. There is always a long way to go, however, and the measure of society is how well it treats the less well-off. As Governments changed, I watched as my wife became a carer. We have a young disabled son. It is quite extraordinary when one starts off with the whole process because literally one does not know what the hell is going on or what the supports are. It is not something people generally expect to happen in their lives, to become a carer. Not many people set out to be a carer in the community from a very young age. However, it happens to many people and they become carers. One in 25 in the population is an official carer according to the 2006 census, equivalent to 161,000 people. As many people have indicated in this debate, that level of caring is saving the State €2.8 billion, and the Government policy which states that community care is the right way to go is supported by all parties in this House, I believe, and in the country. I feel very strongly about that and believe absolutely it is the right way to go and that community care is the best way to care for our people. Obviously, the elderly prefer to live in their own homes and communities until the very last possible minute. In the case of any of our children, we certainly want them to be in their own homes, if at all possible. I understand there are many difficult situations and there is an enormous debate on the whole issue of child protection at the moment. It is not always that easy to achieve, but certainly in any case where a child or an adult can live within the community, they should be given the best possible support and services for that to happen. That is an excellent policy.

Provision of occupational therapy and speech therapy in schools is something that I have raised before on many occasions. It is very important that this should be upgraded. At a time when money is scarce, we need to up our game. I am delighted the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, has pioneered speech therapy within a pilot school programme in Galway. I want to see how successful a completed pilot is because I believe this can lead to much cheaper and much better speech therapy services for children if implemented properly. We have to look at the best possible way of delivering services in the community and find innovative ways of doing that within society.

I want to mention form filling, which is not something many people would think about in relation to carers. When one becomes a carer, as my wife and I have, one wants to put every ounce of caring towards the person who needs it. One does not want to be trooping in and out of administrative centres, filling in forms and being treated as someone who is trying to defraud the State. I am not pulling any punches in saying this. At times one feels like that, rightly or wrongly. One is made to feel as if one is trying to defraud the State of money when one is simply looking for the best services for one's child. That is not the way it should be. Obviously, there may be people who try to get a carer's allowance when they are not entitled to it, but the default position should certainly be one of caring for people within the State.

I very much welcome the fact that I have received correspondence from the carers' association, Caring for Carers Ireland. We need support associations for carers. There has been much talk about respite care, home help and meals on wheels. I want to ask the Minister of State about training for carers. When one becomes a carer, one generally does not have training in that regard. Support and training in the home setting is something, certainly, that could be improved.

I do not believe we should use the monetary situation as an excuse for denigrating the gains we have got. We must hold on to those and make every effort in that regard. If we are going to cut in this budget it has to be from the higher end of things. I could speak all day on this particular subject, as the Cathaoirleach recognises. It is a very important debate, and I hope we can come back to it again. There have been a number of specific measures suggested in this debate. I hope the Minister for Health and Children and the other Ministers involved in the caring area will look carefully at today's Seanad debate and embrace many of the points that we have sought.