Richard O'Donoghue: No Means Test - 'There Is No Price on Care'
Richard O'Donoghue spoke against introducing a means test for carers, arguing that care cannot be priced and that means-testing would disincentivise people from providing home care. He told the minister that hostile letters from the tax office and other policy obstacles are frightening carers and reducing access to care in people's own homes.
Main argument
He said there should be no means test on carers and asked rhetorically how one could put a price on care. He warned that current birth-rate trends mean the pool of available carers will shrink over the coming decades if policy disincentivises them now.
Personal experience
He recounted that his father was cared for at home and described how carers became part of the family, performing basic tasks, providing security and continuity for the household. He used this experience to underline his view that carers should be supported to care in people's own homes.
Access and staffing pressures
He detailed access problems, citing a woman who must drive to the Kerry border daily to care for her father because adequate local hours and carers are not available. He also said nursing homes are full and that the state lacks the staffing and infrastructure to provide all care centrally.
Economic case for home care
He argued it makes economic sense to care for people in their own homes when possible because it costs the state less than institutional care. He questioned why policy would create obstacles to home care when government provision is already constrained by staffing and capacity.
Concerns about tax letters
He warned that carers are receiving letters from the tax office that feel hostile and intimidating, and said such correspondence risks frightening people who are trying to provide care. He urged the minister to address the issue so carers are not deterred by fear of punitive letters.
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Minister, Independent Ireland had asked government that there would be no means test on carers. Why did I break it down into Independent Ireland said that there should be no means test on carers for one very good reason? How can you put a price on care? So you have people coming to your home for an hour here driving across ten miles here or driving across different parts of the county and giving an hour to a family member. But the statistics are shown now that with the way the birth rates are going at the moment they're saying that we have in the population for the care for the older generation maybe two decades time where you'll be looking for care and I'll be looking for care there will be no carers if you disincentivise them now. So for people in the care profession and I was very very lucky that my father was cared for at home and as a family we cared for him but we also had carers that came in to help us. Came in and lit a fire while we were out. Came in and done the basic things but also from a security point of view. He knew they were coming what time they were coming and he knew everything about it. They became part of the family. So to me carers are family. They're looking after our loved ones in their own house in their own environment on the years where they need it most. These people are the people that looked after us and gave us the benefits to make sure that we could actually rear our own families. They paid their taxes, they worked hard and they looked after us as a generation and the least we can do is allow them to care in their own homes. I had a woman at the moment on the phone to me and I know her very very well from my own parish and she's got to drive to the Kerry border to look after her father every day because they can't get a carer. That's what she's got to do. They can't get the adequate hours and she's trying to work in and out between us and being a mother and to try and run all this in because we can't get the carers. If you had to get the medical profession at the moment and we're talking about nursing homes and I've had people ring me trying to get people in for nursing care they can't get into place because they're full. So why are we putting an obstacle in the way of stopping people to be cared for in their own home? If you took in the financial sector of it, it makes economic sense for them to be cared for in their own home if it's able to do so. It costs the state less to having cared for in their own home. So why are we putting obstacles in the way of care when the government themselves can't provide it? Because we don't have the staffing facilities for it. We don't have the infrastructure places for it. So Minister, Independent Ireland started out by saying that they didn't want cares to be means-tested and yet they're getting letters now from the tax office and they're ringing me saying Richard what's this? And the letters are hostile. Anyone that gets a letter from from the tax man says they come out in a hostel and it it puts the fear of God inside them anyway. So now we're trying to say to the carers go out and care but yet we're going to frighten the life out of you in case you've got a dot out of place. There is no price on care and remember it from our own families. Wouldn't you love to see that your parents have been cared for properly in the confines of their homes? We've had it. Why aren't we giving the opportunity to other people to have the same? Thank you. Thank you.
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