Kathleen Funchion: End the Unfair Carers Means Test
Kathleen Funchion addressed the treatment of carers in Ireland, calling for the abolition of the carers allowance means test and for proper pay, rights and protections. She criticised Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil MEPs for voting against her amendment at committee level and urged the government to treat care as a public service.
Summary
Kathleen Funchion sets out why carers must be recognised and supported. She highlights how the current carers allowance means test excludes thousands, penalises people who work part-time or whose partner works, and reduces or removes payments for vital unpaid carers.
Means test and impact
Funchion explains that the means test effectively treats care as a private, for-profit matter or an unstated expectation of women, rather than a public service. The result is many carers receiving reduced payments or none at all despite providing essential care for vulnerable people.
Political response and amendment
She notes that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil MEPs voted against her amendment to end the means test at committee level. Funchion frames this vote as a missed opportunity to recognise carers fairly and to reform the carers allowance system.
What carers need
Funchion calls for carers to be properly paid and to receive the same rights and protections as other workers. She urges the Irish government and European colleagues to listen to carers and to change policy to reflect care as a public responsibility.
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Uachtarán, carers are the backbone of our community, the unsung heroes looking after some of the most vulnerable in our society and yet are consistently left behind, as we know women disproportionately take on those caring responsibilities. We need to see the care system as a public service rather than a private for profit model or the unsaid expectation of women. The Irish government, like many other across Europe, need to listen to carers and get rid of what we have in Ireland which is a very unfair means test of the carers allowance. This means test excludes thousands of carers and results in many receiving reduced payments. Carers are putting in the hours and providing this vital care but because they might be working part-time or their partner is working they see much reduced payment or indeed in many instances no payment at all. And unsurprisingly but still disappointingly Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil MEPs voted against my amendment on ending this means test at committee level here. Carers deserve a lot better. We need to recognise our carers for the contribution they make to society. They need to be paid properly and they deserve the same rights and protections as any other workers. Go raibh maith agat, Chair. you
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