Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Holly Cairns (SD), Cork South-West

The Taoiseach says he acknowledges the role of carers and acknowledges the need to abolish the means test ultimately over the lifetime of this Government. I assume he acknowledges, then, that the changes in the threshold do not abolish it but, rather, slowly work towards that. I appreciate that the Government is doing that but if I am right, I can take it from the Taoiseach's reply that the Government does not plan to abolish it entirely in this budget, and that it is something it plans to do over the lifetime of the Government. I ask the Taoiseach to reconsider that because when you consider the very fortunate position the Government is in in terms of record surpluses as well as the reality of this report, which shows that 75% of carers have never received respite, 76% have cut back on non-essentials, 32% report bad mental health and 48% experience severe loneliness, this is something the Government can do now. It would cost €266 million when carers are saving the State billions of euro. I ask the Taoiseach to seriously reconsider and to consider doing this in the next budget. It is something the Government has committed to doing. It needs to happen now. Will the Government do it?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10