Budget 2027
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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John Paul O'Shea (FG), Cork North-West

I recently met Family Carers Ireland at its regional meeting in Cork. I know that Members right across this House have met many family carers and associations associated with caring in recent weeks. We should recognise that caring in itself is a hugely valuable contribution to society. I commend the Minister and the Government on the progress they made last year but I do not want us to stop here. Let us use budget 2027 to take another significant step forward by increasing the income disregards again and let us set ourselves the longer-term ambition of moving away from the means test model. Our family carers do an extraordinary job for their loved ones and for our country. They deserve our recognition but, more importantly, they deserve a system that supports them rather than one that puts unnecessary barriers in their way, so I hope, from his contribution this morning, the Minister will continue to support carers in budget 2027. Will he make that journey?

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Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24