The Minister mentioned abolishing the means test and whether that will mean it is not a social welfare payment. That is something that has come up any time I have met someone who has talked about this. The children's allowance is not means tested because there is a State recognition that having a child has a cost and that the State should support people with that. For a disability allowance or for those who provide care, we should look at a pathway over time towards abolishing means tests.

I will conclude with a message I received from a mother. She told me she has other children but never gets to see them because her daughter gets all her time and attention. She shares a room with her every night and does not even really have a marriage or a home any more. She says she barely has an existence, just her daughter and her needs.