COUNTY Limerick TD Richard O’Donoghue has said he is strongly in support of a motion before the Dáil calling for a shift to a non-means-tested carer’s allowance based solely on care need by 2027.
There are more than 20,000 family carers in Limerick, Deputy O’Donoghue said, equating to around one in eight people “forming the backbone of care provision across the county”.
Despite this contribution, he says, many carers face inadequate support and recognition, particularly as the cost of living continues to rise.
“I am from a family of 11. In his last number of months and years, people came to care for my father,” Deputy O’Donoghue said. “As a big family, we were able to do much of it ourselves, but we had people who came in part-time. The dignity and the home life they have, being cared for in their own home, is unbelievable.”
”Looking at the government sector, it pays people full-time wages and does not get the full service, yet there are people who are going above and beyond to care for people, whether children or adults, across the board, and the government treats them like second-class citizens.
“These are people who, even when they are finished their work, are never finished, because they go above and beyond and do extra hours to make sure that people are cared for.”
The Independent Ireland TD hit out that if the Government has learned anything in its last five years, it is that the care sector gives it the best value for money, even though it is working for a pittance compared to other sectors.
Calling for the means test on the carer’s allowance to be abolished and for the government to “do the right thing”, Deputy O’Donoghue said that a “we also need to make sure that carers are paid proper funding so they can create a future for their own families”.
He added that it is the unanimous recommendation of the Oireachtas joint committee on social welfare to set a roadmap for a non-means-tested participation income for family carers within three years.
