Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this debate and for accepting the motion. I thank all contributors across the House. It has been very good to hear about not only the matters we crafted into the motion, but all of those additional matters. We will come away from this debate having seen an emphasis on means testing and the financing of carers. Senator Mullen said that it should not be about the money and that it is almost offensive to talk about it but this is actually all about the money. Platitudes and thanks are of no use when people have bills to pay. I remember being astonished when studying jurisprudence on the idea of law in economics but, at the end of the day, it comes down to a business case. There is no better business case to be made than that to be made for supporting family carers in their contribution to the support of the State. That business case is there. There are extensive commitments in the programme for Government that will address many of our concerns. The purpose of this motion was to accelerate the addressing of those concerns and to move them up the political agenda. That is what this was about.

I will mention a couple of things. I appreciate the amendment put forward. We can put a red circle around some aspects of it. Only a few weeks ago, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, spoke here about the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and the fact that it will have to be amended with regard to enabling the decision-making service and other aspects of the Bill. Some of the matters raised in the amendment will be addressed really well in that context, to which it is probably more pertinent. I would really welcome the opportunity to work with the Senator to make sure they are on the agenda in that regard.

I pay tribute to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her predecessor, the Leader of the House, Senator Doherty. There has been momentum within the Department of Social Protection since at least 2019, if not well before, with regard to addressing issues affecting family carers. There is an issue with returning emigrants coming home to care for their parents getting immediate access to entitlements. That is an important issue, which the Minister of State highlighted very well in his contribution. Another point to be taken on board from the debate relates to people who are here on stamp 2 student visas, about whom we hear in the context of the debate on Deliveroo.However, within this context, many of them are providing personal care services with professional organisations in the State. They have been on the front line. It would be really nice for us to consider addressing their permits and to examine the demands put forward in recognition of the incredible contribution they have made at the front line especially during the past year.

A carers register is an excellent idea. It would have facilitated the vaccination programme. It is regrettable the great deal of advocacy and lobbying we did on behalf of family carers went unheard when it came to the vaccine roll-out. There was an excellent case for that.

At the end of this debate, this is about pragmatic and practical supports, ensuring that no matter where one lives in the country one can assess them, we deliver on the carer's guarantee and we take on board Senator Ahearn's comments with regard to how that is administered and make sure that is rolled out.

I am not one for biblical quotes but there is one to which I return again and again, namely, "The labourer is worthy of his hire". In this instance, the fact that many of the carers in our country are family members should not get in the way of monetising that role and ensuring they have comfort in the hear and now, that they can pay their bills, that in the years to come when they are perhaps past the need for caring - when parents are deceased or situations have changed - they have the pension they deserve and have not been in any way discriminated against because of their generosity of spirit and commitment and that we ensure we do that. I thank the Minister of State and the members.