Like my colleague, Deputy Wall, I raise the issue of carers. They recently received correspondence from Revenue outlining tax liabilities on their carer's payments. For many families, that did not land as a clarification but as a complete shock. We know and all accept that it is not a new policy but for us it demands action. The Tánaiste knows carers are not casual contributors to our health and social care system. They are an integral part of it. They provide round-the-clock care, often at the expense of their own income, health and future security. They save the State billions of euro every year yet we continue to treat their support as a taxable income rather than what it truly should be - a recognition of essential unpaid labour. People with disabilities face higher living costs every single day due to medical needs, transport and basic accessibility. I want the Government to look at removing carer's allowance and benefit from taxable income. Then we would have a Government that listens, respects carers and values the work carers do.

I thank Deputy McGreehan for the work she does as co-chair of the family carers group. I look forward to meeting them. I rule nothing out but I want to have an informed conversation because - I do not mean this in any way flippantly - carers to do such amazing work. We all want to commit to doing more but the commitment a couple of weeks ago was that we were all going to focus on the means test. We will have to have a joined-up conversation with carers and their representatives as to the best way to financially support our carers. The means test is one, tax policy is another. There is a variety of areas. Let us try to have a shared vision of where we want to get to. The reality around tax is the reality. Many carers will never reach the level where they will have any tax liability. They may even get a rebate. My understanding is this was about making sure people did not get landed with a large tax bill but, rather, that it was regularised. Having said that, let us have a proper informed discussion about how we prioritise carers over the next four budgets due in this Dail. I look forward to having that engagement.