To ask the Minister of Health what action he has taken to develop a Register of Carers.

As you will be aware, I have previously expressed my wish to examine the possibility of developing a more robust central carers register when pressures allow.

Carers registers are maintained by the Health and Social Care Trusts, and serve primarily as a means of sharing information and advice. However, they rely heavily on self-referral and do not therefore provide any true reflection of the actual number of carers in Northern Ireland.

The consultation on the Reform of Adult Social care includes proposals to develop and maintain a voluntary central register of carers with the aim of supporting improved identification and data availability of carers. I look forward to seeing views on this as the consultation proceeds.

There are undoubtedly improvements to be made and a more robust list could facilitate the provision of support to carers. We should not however underestimate the challenges of developing, and maintaining, such a comprehensive register and it is likely to be a long term piece of work that would require sustained attention and additional resources.