During the general election campaign, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised to abolish the means test for the carer's allowance. The programme for Government contains a commitment to phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the Government. Will the Minister tell us in which budget the means test will be abolished?

Sentiment score: 0.30

It was interesting that the Minister used slightly different language in his answer from what is contained in the written replies to parliamentary questions. In written replies the Minister states that the programme for Government has set out a timeline that commits to significantly further increasing the income disregards. He left out, quite understandably, the point about having a timeline because, presumably, he knows that the programme for Government does not contain such a timeline. All it sets out is a general commitment to a view to phasing out the means test. I presume the Minister is not in a position to give me a timeline. While the increase in the income disregard is welcome, it is not sufficient. A means test is not something that can be gradually abolished. Either we have a means test and all of the pressure that puts on people or we do not. It is not only about the income; it is also about the fact of the means test being a demeaning process that people go through. They have to fill out a large form, along with a medical report to justify the work they are doing, which is saving the State approximately €20 billion a year.

Sentiment score: 0.07

I worry that this is one of those promises made during the general election campaign that is then watered down in the programme for Government and that will end up falling by the wayside. In the past few weeks, a number of commitments made by the Government have been abandoned under the guise of the Trump tariffs, by saying that now is not the time for extending. I worry that that is where we are going to end up. The Minister may not have the figures in front of him, but of the almost 100,000 carers, I wager that a significant majority of those are women. There is no getting away from the fundamentally gendered nature in our current society of this work and that is linked to the undervaluing of this work by the State. The refusal to provide a clear timeline with dates to abolish the means test is fundamentally a sexist policy of the Government that places women in a position of continued dependency on their male partners. Economic independence is vital for gender equality, especially at a time when finding affordable housing is the main impediment to women leaving abusive relationships. That is another reason we should abolish the means test.

Sentiment score: -0.13