This article is from page 14 of the 2012-12-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
CARERS from all over Clare took to the streets of Ennis on Friday, following an impromptu meeting through Facebook, to raise their concerns about budgetary cuts to the Respite Care Allowance.
Among the 40 to 50 people that took part in the protest were parents of young children with disabilities, older parents of adults with special needs and full-time carers of the elderly.
All had one clear message – the cut to the respite grant was the last cut they could even contemplate bearing on top of all the previous hardships they had endured in previous budgets.
One of the organisers, Niamh Daly (pictured above), said the protest organised in Dublin by the Carers Association was an indication at how upset people were but, as most carers cannot travel to protest, the carers of Clare decided to have their say on their own streets.
“Carers cannot all get to Dublin but, at the end of the day, we have to have our voice heard,” she said.
Many more Clare carers were unable to attend the protest as the people they care for are house-bound and therefore could not come to Ennis.
It is not just the cut to the respite grant, however, that is affecting Clare’s carers. Family carers, providing unpaid care to family members and loved ones, have been seri- ously affected through the number of cumulative cuts, including the cut to the Household Benefit Package, increases to the prescription charge from 50 cent to € 1.50, the new carbon tax on fuel and the drug payment scheme threshold increase from € 132 to € 144.
The Carers Association said it was extremely disappointed with the level of reduction of over 19 per cent in the respite grant paid to over 77,000 family carers, 20,000 of whom receive no other support from the State for providing full-time care for a family member from their own resources.
The grant is designed to be used by carers to buy in home care or pay for residential respite care for the cared-for person in order to give the carer a much needed break from their caring role.
However, The Clare People has learnt that many carers are using this grant to pay for necessary therapies and services for those they are caring for.