Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, before making the contribution I plan to make, I endorse the remarks of Senator Mullen regarding the restrictions on church-going and church numbers. That should be looked at. The points the Senator makes around compliance stand.

As yesterday was European Carers' Day, this provides us with an opportunity. This budget and these times present an opportunity for a new deal for carers, that is, an increased amount of carer's allowance, more sensible access to it, easier access - I agree with Senator Wall that we should make it easier - and more supports for carers. In other words, we should exalt or give prominence or respect to the profession of carer in the home. There are estimated to be up to 400,000 of these family carers. They are a crucial resource. It is not about cold economics. It is about far more. In cold economic terms, I would say to the Leader that we could save a great deal of money here by de-institutionalisation and the saving of other services and hospitalisation. We cannot keep people at home and get that going without such a service and without support for family carers. We also should accelerate this process. I ask the Leader to give us a timeframe on when there will be a statutory package of care for people at home, in terms of care attendants and carers at home, that is like the fair deal. That would make an amazing contribution to keeping people out of institutions. In the Covid context, in the context of where people are happiest and in the context of cold economics which is not the real issue, there is a great case for keeping people out of institutions. This is an exciting opportunity now. There is a recognition by the IMF and others that we can go into budget deficit for this kind of thing now. This is a big opportunity to give a very high status to our carers. I would ask the Leader for a debate on it in light of yesterday being carers' day and of its great significance.