Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join with others in welcoming the Bill. It is a small but significant recognition of the work of care in our society and the fact that the care given in so many homes across Ireland is a contribution to the State and to our shared common good. The State bears a responsibility to acknowledge and support carers in their work. There are many positive elements in the Bill. That is why it is passing with such speed through the House. We will come to it at a later Stage but it is a positive step that those on the half-rate carer's allowance are likely to be included.

I will further underline some of the concerns of those on the carer's support grant. There is a practical question and a question of principles. When the Minister, Deputy Harris, announced the beginning of the process last December, a cost of €11 million was talked about. Many people who were on the carer's allowance, because it was means tested, already qualified for the medical card, which has perhaps been what allowed those on the half-rate carer's allowance to come into the mix. Might there not also be scope, even within this Bill, to include those in receipt of the carer's support grant? If there is a space in what was originally envisaged fiscally, I urge the Minister of State to try to make it happen as it goes through the Dáil. We cannot table a money amendment ourselves.

It is really important for all the reasons that were mentioned but also because there are issues in the means testing. There are issues around financial independence. When a person gives up his or her work to care for another person, the fact that his or her partner may continue to work means there is money for the household but the person who is perhaps taking a decade out of his or her career to deliver care also needs financial independence and not simply income. That is a concern I have about the adequacy of the carer's support grant. This includes a level of independence. People will not have to ask their partners for the money to visit a GP or to access prescriptions. They will not be asking for that money. People may seek to re-enter the workforce in their 40s or 50s and will have a capital basis for a restart. We all know the efforts that restarting takes.

There is another related concern which I realise touches more on the area of social protection but it overlaps. There are many who are caring in Ireland who are not having contributions made by virtue of the way in which they started caring. There is a hole in our system whereby those who were not making social protection contributions before starting to care can sometimes not have contributions made on their behalf. They face issues when re-entering at a later point and also in terms of pensions in the longer term.

I will touch briefly on another related issue. I join with others in saying-----