Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment. I will speak to the motion and all of the proposed amendments. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is great to see him here. I commend Senator Seery Kearney on this great motion. It is really good and we have put some amendments into it to make it stronger.

I am here on behalf of the Civil Engagement Group. We welcome the motion and its recognition of the important role home carers play and will continue to play in our society.Given the resounding message from the recent Citizens' Assembly, it is timely the State should recognise and support care at home and in the community as part of our Constitution. This work is important to me in my experience as a therapist at the RISE Foundation. In many ways, carers are the backbone of society, following a vocation to lead others into health and well-being. We need to honour and support their patience, dedication and hard work insofar as we can.

The motion suggests some very positive steps towards giving carers better access to the resources required to support the choices and needs of their family members and other loved ones. It includes a call to accelerate some of the programme for Government's commitments in this field. However, we believe that stronger emphasis of one of the most important of those commitments is needed, namely, a statutory home care scheme, which is something for which Senator Higgins has campaigned for more than a decade and something that all of us in the Civil Engagement Group are passionate about. That is why we have proposed amendment No. 1 calling for accelerated action on the delivery of a statutory entitlement to home care.

There needs to be better regulation of home care and residential care. That is why we are proposing amendment No. 2. It would be a meaningful step in Ireland's journey towards becoming a society that supports and cares for all its members, including those who care for others. It is also important to acknowledge that, in many countries that have already delivered statutory home care, the conversation is moving forward with an increasing focus on the right to personal assistance so that individuals are not just cared for but supported in fully participating in society. I will be moving amendment No. 6 to point an arrow towards the next steps for Ireland in learning from international best practice and supporting all of its citizens by producing a report on a right to personal assistance.

I will move our amendment No. 4 to emphasise the importance of reviewing and reflecting on care policies in light of Ireland's recent ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the CRPD. The convention provides us with a powerful roadmap for stronger and more inclusive communities and is something many of the motion's proposers care about.

It is encouraging to see that the physical and mental health needs of those who care for others are given emphasis in this motion. Any commitment to developing the protections of health, particularly mental health, is deeply appreciated and necessary. We in the Civil Engagement Group fully support the motion's proposals to extend free GP care and create a pathway to pensions for carers, demonstrating an approach that recognises the full humanity of carers and the breadth of work they do. In this spirit, the Civil Engagement Group has proposed some amendments to the motion that will strengthen that approach further. I will move amendments Nos. 3, 7 and 8, which highlight ways in which the motion can carry forward this holistic approach to supporting carers and recipients of care in all places where care is provided, from the family home to professionally run services, and supporting each person in making the care choice that works best for him or her.

We welcome the motion because it is a positive message about Ireland's ongoing journey towards becoming a society that supports and cares for all its members, including those who care for others. As an important side note, I am pleased to see the return of the Adult Safeguarding Bill 2017 to the Order Paper. I outlined in my introduction how the motion was timely. The current health crisis has exposed serious gaps, not only in the health sector but in areas of care for people at risk. Adult safeguarding is an area I am passionate about and I look forward to spending time developing and strengthening it within government.