Mark McDonald Speech on Carer's Week 2015

Mark McDonald, MSP for Aberdeen Donside addresses the Scottish Parliament with a speech regarding Carer's Week 2015. Watch the speech in full below and click "read more" to get the text of the speech. 
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I congratulate Rhoda Grant on securing a debate on carers week in carers week. I lodged a motion on carers week, although I did not mark mine for members’ business.
I thought about what I was going to say, because Johann Lamont made a very good point—when we speak in debates, people outside who listen in often hear what they consider to be warm words and platitudes. Therefore, I thought that I would say a little about what is involved in being a carer.
I am a carer for my son. I am probably his secondary carer; my wife would be considered his primary carer. On reading some of the comments on social media, I was struck by the impact that caring has on other people and how much of it I recognise. I realise that there is a strong likelihood that my son will require care and support from us for the rest of his life, and many other people are in the situation of having a child they know will be dependent on their care and the care of the state for their whole life. They know that they will not experience some of the things that many parents experience with their children. There is hope that there will be other experiences, but many of the things that people take for granted as parental experiences are not always experienced.
Other issues arise. One thing that is often said is that my situation as a carer is different, because I am an MSP and I have a comfortable income. That certainly helps in a number of areas, and it helps others who are in a similar position. When my mother was caring for my grandparents, she was fortunate that my father was earning an income, which meant that financial support was available. Many people are in that situation, but many people are not.
Income will help only in some areas. Life for me and my wife is one of constantly broken sleep. Indeed, until my son was prescribed melatonin, one of us would have to stay in his room until around midnight or 1 o’clock in the morning so that he went to sleep. If we had not done that, he would have been through waking up his then toddler sister, whose sleep, too, would have been broken. Given that he would then be up again at 4 or 5 in the morning, three to four-hour sleeps were becoming a regular occurrence. That is the same for many people, who have to get up through the night to administer medication to loved ones; indeed, they often have to sleep in the same room, which creates difficult conditions for them.
That is why, although I welcome the Carers (Scotland) Bill, I think that we have to look beyond the young carer’s statement and the adult carer support plan and ask: what if support that is identified as being necessary is not available locally? What provisions can be put in place to ensure that that is part of the thinking of local authorities and health boards? Sleep counselling is one such example. Although it is not always available at a local level, it can be absolutely vital in many instances. If the sleep patterns of parents and siblings are being impacted on, sleep counselling can offer important assistance, but what if no trained sleep counsellors are available locally? Listing sleep counselling as something that is required to support an individual is fine on paper, but how do we put it into practice?
We all need to think about that issue as we move forward with the legislation. It is fine to put in place the funding for support measures as well as support plans for carers, but we have to ensure that, when the support plan is in place, the things that are identified as being required by carers can be delivered. What carers expect from the bill is for the support plan to be not only provided but acted upon.
I will draw my remarks to a close by saying that, although I welcome the opportunity to have this debate during carers week, we should not forget that for Scotland’s carers every week is carers week.