"I profoundly regret that the Government has decided not to publish the Carers Strategy. This is breaking faith with the 161,000 carers throughout Ireland who provide an essential social service and in doing so save the State €2.5 billion per year." This was stated by Marian Harkin MEP in response to the Governments statement that it is abandoning plans to publish the Carers Strategy.

She said "The response of this Government to the current crisis will shape the kind of society we will become for the next ten years. Of course there are massive economic constraints and there will have to be cutbacks but this does not justify scrapping the strategy. As a society we need a roadmap to ensure that family carers in particular are supported and enabled to continue caring.
 
“As co-chair of the Carers Interest Group in the European Parliament and because of my involvement with carers in Ireland, I am acutely aware of how much carers were looking forward to this Strategy in order to finally begin to address the situation of carers throughout Ireland, it is not acceptable that their hopes are dashed in this way.

“Whatever decisions we take over the coming months we must ensure that we support family carers - indeed society as we have constructed it could not function without carers" Marian Harkin concluded.