Debate contribution: Support for Carers

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 10 February 2025.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

10 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Support for Carers

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4791136

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank Members for their contributions. I am in the unusual position where people are thanking me for bringing a motion to the House. I am happy to do it more regularly if people want me to. It has been an honour for me to fight for carers with the motion. Hopefully, we will have tangible solutions, as Sian said. The motion and the amendment do not resolve all the problems, but all Members who contributed to the debate raised important aspects, including paid carers' leave and the financial difficulties faced by carers, which Sian and other Members mentioned. Sian and Linda Dillon spoke about carers being forced to leave jobs, which is something that I have been hearing about even over the last few days. A huge number of people have been impacted by that. Colm Gildernew mentioned that carers' work saves the health service large sums of money and resource, and that sentiment was echoed by Robbie Butler. Colm advocated better paid leave arrangements for those who look after their loved ones, and he said that it should be a societal responsibility, not an individual one. Brian Kingston said that carers play a vital role in society, but he pointed out that finance is a limiting factor, and that was echoed in some of what the Minister said. Brian supported the amendment; I assume that he supports the motion, and I am happy for his party to do so if, as it seems, that is the case. Robbie Butler also mentioned support for cross-departmental working. The amendment teased that out, which was important for the debate and for a strategy going forward. Mark Durkan supported the motion and the amendment and talked about the Herculean efforts made by carers, which, obviously, is the case. He talked about carers facing the poverty level, and he said that the Government need to care for carers. Linda Dillon echoed that point, and it is absolutely true. She talked about the sacrifices that carers make and how caring touches the families of all of us here. It does, and, if it has not yet done so, it will. She also talked about how the welfare system does not support carers, and she hoped that this is the day that we stop failing carers; I hope so as well. Maurice Bradley indicated his support and talked about the sacrifices of carers and how services would collapse without them. I thank him for his support. He also referenced a carer in his constituency who provides 24/7 care, 365 days a year. Kate Nicholl spoke about two young carers whom she came across a number of years ago, who were caring for their parent with cancer. The work done by young carers is a Trojan effort that is under-recognised and undervalued. She also mentioned an unpaid carer who had to leave her job. Sinéad McLaughlin said that unpaid carers were the backbone of our society and that the health system, which is already on its knees, would be worse without carers. That is absolutely true. She also mentioned childcare, and I note that, today, a provider announced an increase in the cost of childcare of an extra £8 a day. I have already been messaged by a health worker who is considering leaving her job in the health service because of the cost of childcare. That is, obviously, a connected issue. Timothy Gaston talked about the issues that come from this corner, shedding light on matters that are not being addressed by the Executive or the Opposition, and I tend to agree with that position. He talked about the inadequacy of benefits and support for carer's allowance whilst MLA pay is increased, and I also agree with that. Claire Sugden talked about people giving their lives to caring roles and responsibilities. She said that carers do not look for recognition or reward but deserve it, and I concur. She talked about the health and social care system being overstretched. The Minister said a lot. I cannot go through it all, but he said that he supported carers. That is welcome, and Members expressed that support throughout the House. I and my party welcome that support, and I assume and hope that carers welcome it. The reality is, however, that there is a lack of support services, especially respite. That would suggest that, so far, that support is only rhetorical. The Minister also talked about the difficulty of divergence in welfare support and payments. I would say that divergence exists and is already in place. There is more financial support available for carers in Scotland that is not available here. The motion proposes that such support should be introduced. Carers and people who work in the sector in England say that support and services are available there that are not available to carers here. There is already divergence, but it is divergence that does not suit people and their carers here. What is the point of devolution if the Executive are not willing to break with a broken welfare system that already punishes the poor? The Minister talked about finance as well, but I say that we cannot afford not to implement a support scheme. I will make a few more comments before I close. We heard a lot of good words and warm words from MLAs and Executive parties about the invaluable work that carers do, but, over the decades, we have not seen much action from the Executive. The carers' strategy, for example, is almost 20 years old. The support for carers fund helped many organisations to run projects that provided vital support for carers, but, shockingly, the fourth and final funding round was two years ago. Short-term injections of funding into the community and voluntary sector will not cut it. Carers need long-term, sustainable services to meet their needs across the community and voluntary sector and the statutory sector. In June last year, as was mentioned, a petition with 1,300 signatures calling for a carers' recognition payment was handed to the Minister. At the time, he said that delivery would be dependent on supporting funding from the Executive, and he said something similar today. If all Executive parties vote for the motion, which, it seems, will be the case, I hope that that can be considered support for a recognition payment — who will oppose it? — as well as a young carers' recognition payment. If cross-party support exists for the motion, it will follow logically that funding will come. As was mentioned, the cost of implementing a carer's allowance supplement would be around £26 million per year, but I think that the Department has updated its estimated cost of all the additional welfare mitigations recommended by the independent review, including the cost of the recognition payment. The Minister should commit to publishing those updated costs. Assuming that the cost is around the £26 million figure, the Executive could find that in various avenues already. A sum of £3·4 million spent on temporary accommodation is largely going into the pockets of landlords and hotel owners. Invest NI is spending £20 million on companies with questionable human rights practices, to put it mildly. Executive parties handed over £73 million last year in rates relief to big companies such as Coca-Cola, Moy Park, Kingspan and many more. Updates to the relevant IT systems should not be cost-prohibitive or complicated. The change has already been made in Scotland. I welcome the Minister's commitment to engage with the Department for Work and Pensions, but I suggest that we need to move at speed on the issue. I and many other people ask, "If the Executive are able to find cash for landlords, big businesses and arms companies, why can money not be found for carers?". That is a fairly reasonable question. Some Members raised the issue of the gender dimension of unpaid care. That is an absolutely vital and important point. Those who look after our children, older people and those with physical and mental illnesses and disabilities are usually women, and young carers are often girls. For many years, women have been described as the shock absorbers of poverty. They lessen the harsh impacts of austerity through their unpaid labour, and it is labour. That includes unpaid care, which acts as an invisible subsidy to the global economy. I commend the motion and urge the Minister to operate at speed to implement a carer recognition payment. I welcome his commitment to engage with DWP, but he needs to set up a scheme urgently. This is too important an issue to leave carers behind.

1,442 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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