Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. It is really important and timely because we have the budget discussions. As my colleague said, there are 500,000 or more carers in the country. I have a son who has level three autism. He is non-verbal and has severe, challenging behaviours. I am constantly up at two in the morning, but I have a privileged life. I am a Senator. I have a great job, which I love, but it is tiring. I am here to represent those who do not have the privilege that I have.

This affects women. If I am called now, if my son needs me, I may have to go. This is not because my husband will not, but because I feel like I have to do that. It is my job to go.

The calls outlined by Family Carers Ireland are so sensible and they are not huge request at all. They have calculated that scrapping the means test would only cost €295 million a year. That would help an extra 300,000 families. These families are not getting the support from other Departments.

We have the assessment of needs but it is not fit for purpose and children have huge unmet needs. What is happening is that families are going to loan sharks. They are doing everything they can to access services such as occupational therapy or speech and language therapy for their child. They feel like they have to do every single thing they can just to give their child a chance in the world. If they do not, they suffer guilt and the feeling that they are letting their child down. Parents should not have to harbour such feelings. It should be up to the State to properly provide therapies to children. We know that the system is a shambles and parents should not have to be battling for basic services. We might not be calling for all these extra supports if we had those basic needs properly met or if there were proper facilities in schools to mind our children or if there were enough therapists, teachers or places in early intervention classes but that is not the case, so many mothers and fathers are taking the time to care for the children at home and not just during the normal day. At night time, so many children and adults cannot be left on their own for five minutes. Many people cannot leave their child unattended for five minutes because they do not know what they will grab or what they will do. It is dangerous.

My view on carer's allowance is that we need a complete root and branch reform of the carers system. It has not been changed since the 1980s. When it was originally introduced, it was for people who were looking after elderly parents. We do a good job on that. We have the home care and fair deal schemes. There are capacity issues but we are doing okay. When it comes to looking after children and young adults, however, we are lacking. We need to look at this properly because a lot of parents are taking the responsibility for this and the State has not stepped in properly. We need a huge, root and branch reform. This would include basics like getting rid of the means test and increasing the allowance. With the cost of living at the moment, €236 per week does not really buy that much.

Senator Wall and I are on the autism committee. The net cost of having a child with autism is €28,000 per year. If you want to give your child a chance, you will need to be earning €60,000 and then you will fall outside the means test. These families are able to get loans and they fall into debt. Their lives are really hard. Their lives can be miserable depending on the needs of their child. Some people cannot leave their house. They have to always be in their house, in their kitchen because that the safest place to look after their child. It affects other members of the family and people do not have the proper family life they envisaged.

The second issue I wish to raise is respite. We have an archaic system of respite in this country. Not every parent wants to send their child off for a weekend. Many parents would like just a few hours at home. As Senator Wall's email noted, you cannot just pay the girl next door €12 to come in and mind your child. She is just not trained to do that. We need a proper system of respite, perhaps using the home care system we have for elderly people to give parents a few hours' break. Many people do not want to leave their kids for a weekend. They do occasionally need a holiday but they often just want help to go for a coffee or go for a walk, feel human again and have a chat with their friends without talking to them about all their needs. It would enable them to be how they were before they had to be a carer, which is all-consuming.

I apologise for getting emotional but it is a hugely important issue. Well done to the Labour Party for bringing this forward. The Family Carers Ireland submissions are just so well thought out. Nothing in there is over the top. The suggestions should all be taken on board for the budget. We are talking about being a wealthy country and having all this extra money. This is where to put it.