Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy Leader and support the Order of Business. It may be that in the new year we will have a debate on the proposals for the referendums that will take place on 8 March. We do not have a lot of time to tease out not only the legislation giving effect to that, but also how it will be implemented practically in terms of changing the constitutional references to the role of women in the home and the concept of a family. Those are important debates that we will have.

As the Deputy Leader is aware from her current and previous roles, the removal of the means test for carer's allowance has been debated repeatedly. The issue was raised recently in Kerry by Kathleen O'Sullivan from Portmagee, who looks after her daughter, Hannah, who has cerebral palsy. Kathleen cannot take on part-time work. There are all the issues in respect of pension entitlements. Of course, if the person in question is single, that brings its own challenges. A debate on how we treat the most vulnerable in society, the carers who do such valuable work, should be organised for the new year. We should look after them in every way possible.