Results 221-240 of 1,058,709 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Michael McNamara OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Helen McEntee OR speaker:Mattie McGrath OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:Johnny Mythen)

Carer's Allowance: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Matt Carthy: The carer's allowance means test should be abolished and Sinn Féin is committed to abolishing it. We have heard lots of messages of support from across this House indicating that the means test should be abolished. Let us be very clear. There will be only one political party going to the electorate with a costed plan to abolish the means test. The reason we are doing that is very...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Thomas Pringle: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this motion regarding the abolition of the carer's allowance means test. I fully support this motion, particularly its calls on the Government to put in place a pay-related carer's benefit scheme and to abolish the means test for the carer's allowance. This Government, in its most recent budget and its four previous budgets, has failed, time...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. It is an issue about which this group has talked many times during my time in the Dáil since 2016. I welcome the motion and also welcome the fact that the Government is not opposing it. However, no timespan has been given for the abolition of the means test. It is the most basic thing we should do in our Republic, along with...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Marian Harkin: It is appropriate that my second last contribution to the Thirty-third Dáil is on the issue of how we care for carers. I put forward a Private Members' Bill on this issue during this Dáil, which carried on from my work in the European Parliament where I chaired the carers interest group for ten years. One of the pieces of legislation we were successful in bringing forward was...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Mattie McGrath: I compliment Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. We sound patronising here but we just cannot thank carers enough. They really are angels of mercy for the work they do and the way they do it. I had the privilege yesterday, along with Councillor Richie Molloy, of welcoming to the Dáil Gallery and the Dáil restaurant a group of carers who had earlier attended a function in the...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this very important motion before the Dáil. Carers are the unsung heroes of Ireland, providing essential care that supports both their loved ones and the broader healthcare system. The current means test for carer's allowance is a significant barrier that prevents many carers from receiving the support they need. Abolishing this means test would not...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Michael Ring: Thank you very much for your kind words.

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Richard O'Donoghue: If we look around the Public Gallery we see the next generation of people. We are their carers. The vulnerable people in this country are being penalised for caring for people. They are being penalised. The means test for anyone that is caring for somebody should be abolished. It is caring; that is what they are doing. If we look at the money paid to the people at the very top levels of...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Michael Collins: I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this very worthy motion. The carer's allowance is an absolutely outrageous scandal when there is so much money in the State, as the Government continuously tells us. These people were not looked after in the budget. They put in the time and they care for people in their own homes and are proud to do so. They are saving the State tens of millions of euro...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Michael Ring: That is no problem. Deputy Gannon missed his slot but I will use the discretion of the Chair to give him ten minutes.

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Gary Gannon: I appreciate the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach's discretion and thank him for it. Most of us want to thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion, which is a vitally important one that urges us to acknowledge the immense, often unseen, contribution carers make to our society. Such care is effectively a shadow health service. It is high time we addressed the appalling treatment...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Joe O'Brien: It is a pity Deputy Murphy had to take a cheap shot at jobseekers. She made some good points but that was unnecessary. That is why I was not looking at her.

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Michael Ring: I call People Before Profit although the Deputies missed their slot. At the discretion of the Chair, I will let them speak for five minutes each.

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Bríd Smith: I really appreciate that. A few people did not take their slots so we underestimated the time. This is probably the last time I will speak in the Dáil and I appreciate being allowed to speak on this topic. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion and the carers' association and all the carers out there who do the job they do. It is a job I did for two years when my mother was...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No words can pay enough tribute to the role carers play in society. Those carers can be elderly themselves, infirm and they can be young people, looking after their loved ones who are vulnerable and disabled people. If the State had to provide that care and those services, it would cost countless billions. However, this is done by people who, as a result of such things as the means test...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Seán Canney: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important subject. It is not the first time we have spoken on it in the Regional Group of Independent TDs, of which I am a member with Deputy Verona Murphy. We have been advocating for a non-means-tested carer's allowance support grant for a long time. As a member of the disability matters committee, I have heard first-hand through listening to...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Verona Murphy: This is my 49th speech on carers. While I welcome that Sinn Féin has a brought a motion, I am disappointed that it did not come on board as an Opposition party much earlier to look for the abolition of the carer’s means test. While it always maintains there should be a more streamlined approach and a little incremental increase in that, it did not look for abolition. My...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: There is an element of Groundhog Day here, whether we are talking about services for families of people with disabilities, school places for children with disabilities or carers. There is general agreement with regard to the billions that carers save. We could not operate without the care provided by family members to those they love. In Ireland and many other places, that has always been...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Johnny Mythen: I thank Deputies Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and Pauline Tully for bringing forward this motion. Carers are fed up with the Government paying lip service to what they do and with how valuable they are portrayed in society. The facts are that many carers find themselves having to give up their jobs, take a substantial hit in their household finances and often having to take on a...

Carer's Allowance: Motion [Private Members] (6 Nov 2024)

Duncan Smith: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this very important motion to the Dáil this morning. The Labour Party believes in a society that values care and invests in it from cradle to grave, so that people have access to the services they need when they need them. In our election manifesto, we will outline our proposals for a new social care contract to support family carers and care...