This Bill proves again that the Government is completely out of touch with ordinary people. The Government obviously lives in a bubble in this House. Is it that it does not know or does not care that there is a cost-of-living crisis? Families are struggling to make ends meet, grocery prices are through the roof and we have some of the highest energy prices in Europe, yet there is not a single cost-of-living support in this Bill or in the budget. Families are falling behind with rent, mortgages and energy bills. We should always remember that the measure of a nation is how it looks after its most vulnerable. We are wealthier than at any time in our history, yet we have 630,000 people living below the poverty line and of those, 190,000 are children. There are also over 16,000 people homeless, including almost 5,500 children. While the social welfare increases in the budget are welcome, they go nowhere near providing a minimum standard of living. Social Justice Ireland has said that core social welfare rates must increase by €25 per week for there to be any impact on reducing poverty. During the general election, all parties committed to abolishing the means test for carers. That is not in this Bill, nor was it in the budget. The acid test of the bona fides of this Government on carers and caring is the immediate abolition of the means test for the carer's allowance. That should be done now and included as an amendment to this Bill. This has been a demand of Family Carers Ireland for years and was promised by all parties in the run-up to the last general election. It was understood the means test would be abolished in the first 100 days of the Government or, at the very least, in the most recent budget, but neither happened. Carers play a vital role as front-line healthcare workers supporting older people, people with disabilities and those with high care needs in their own homes. They provide 19 million hours of unpaid care each week, saving the State almost €20 billion a year. The abolition of the means test should be done immediately. Family Carers Ireland stated: Despite being described as the backbone of Ireland’s health and social care system, family carers continue to shoulder the consequences of underinvestment in home care supports, outdated policies, eligibility criteria that no longer reflect the realities of modern-day caring ... Another promise made by all parties in the run-up to the last general election was the payment of a weekly cost-of-disability payment. Research by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice showed it costs a family caring for a disabled person an additional €244 per week. That has not been acknowledged in this Bill or in the recent budget. There are also serious barriers to employment for people with disabilities, including the loss of secondary benefits like travel, household benefits and the fuel allowance. The income disregard of €165 is too low. Many European countries have a full disregard. The question of child poverty is also one that comes up in relation to this Bill and the budget. Again, we see no reference to a second tier of child benefit, which is urgently needed.

Sentiment score: 0.13