The new Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mr Brennan, pledged last night that resources would be targeted at helping those in need or most deserving.
He said he was thinking of the thousands of carers throughout the country who selflessly sacrificed so much of their lives to look after loved ones, the older people who were central to the building of the new Ireland and the Celtic Tiger and now wanted to spend the twilight years in security and comfort.
Mr Brennan said he was also thinking of the widows and widowers who had to face many difficulties, and the many, many more who felt left at the margins of society and looked to the State for a helping hand.
"These are the type of welfare issues we will be targeting, first in the budget and then into the future. Only when the rising tide lifts all the boats can we be proud of our performance as a modern, caring nation."
Mr Brennan said he would consider further improvements in the respite care grant for carers in the forthcoming budget.
The Minister was responding to a Labour Party motion calling for a better deal for carers, including the abolition of the means test.
The party's spokesman on social and family affairs, Mr Willie Penrose, said that carers were the unsung heroes of Irish society. "It is time that we acknowledged their role, but it is also time that we began compensating them for the demanding work that they are asked to do."
Mr Penrose said figures published by the Central Statistics Office last March showed there were almost 150,000 people in Ireland providing unpaid help for a family members or friend with a disability or health problem.
"The person being cared for could be a child with a physical or mental disability, a stroke victim or an incapacitated elderly relative. In many cases, this unpaid care is being provided 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. In some cases a person may be caring for more than one dependant."
Mr Penrose estimated that the cost to the Exchequer of providing residential care for those currently being cared for at home would be close to €4 billion annually.
"And that would be without even considering the capital costs that would be required to provide places for 150,000 people."
Outlining the existing benefits for carers, Mr Brennan pledged that the Government would deliver much, much more.
"The long-term agenda is a very important aspect of social policy with major financial and other implications, and I am determined, together with my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, to move this agenda on by developing a realistic and achievable framework for the future of long-term care in this country."
Mr Brennan said studies indicated that older people would prefer to receive care in their own homes and communities.
"The challenge is to put in place a benefit system and a financing system which meets people's needs and is sustainable."
