A report has found that one in four children with disabilities are being denied full school days as 'short school days' are being imposed upon them by schools.

St Colman’s College, Fermoy 1-13 Gort Community School 0-12: After another huge battle, St Colman’s College advanced to the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Junior A hurling (U16½) championship final. They will play St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny. 

Family carers are demanding their voices be heard by the incoming Government.

Barnados, St Vincent de Paul, and the Childrens Rights Alliance are among 30 organisations attending a pre-Budget forum today in Dublin.

WHEN Penny Fennessy’s elderly father suffered a stroke she gave up her life in England and moved to the small town of Clogheen in Tipperary to care for him.

MARIA MAHER’S life changed forever when her mother was forced to use a wheelchair following an accident at her Cork family home seven years ago.

THREE out of four young carers began their caring duties before the age of nine, a groundbreaking study has revealed.

Family carers staged a protest march on Government buildings today to plead with Government not to go back on the half-rate Carers' Allowance introduced in 2007.

SINGLE mother Alison McKim was disappointed that just five TDs turned up at her door to see how she copes with her blind teenage son who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and asthma.

The cuts proposed in An Bord Snip’s report today would mean a drop in income of 30% for family carers, representative group the Carers Association said today.

CARERS marched backwards to the Dáil yesterday to demonstrate how they feel they are being treated by the Government.

A SERIES of “cost-neutral” policies should be introduced to help plug the gaps left by the scrapping of the national carers’ strategy, a leading support group has claimed.

Plans to cut the already inadequate carers’ allowance show society’s most vulnerable will bear the brunt of the slash and save policy, writes Fiachra Ó Cionnaith.

THERE will be a massive public outcry if the Government cuts allowances for carers, an Oireachtas committee has been warned.

As people settle in to the Christmas holidays, the Carers' Association is urging the public to spare a thought for its members.

The Carers Association today urged Minister for Social and Family Affairs not to allow the current economic climate to dictate the content of the National Carers Strategy, which is presently being developed by Government.

THERESA HULME earns just slightly more than someone on the dole after giving up her job as a clinical psychiatric nurse manager to look after her intellectually disabled older sister.

The Carers Association has today called on the Government for complete overhaul of financial supports for family carers as figures reveal that recent budget changes in income disregards for carers only assissts 2% of the caring population.

AN elderly couple caring for their 44-year-old quadriplegic daughter have pleaded for a long-term care plan to be put in place for her.

The Carers' Association, the national representative organisation for Ireland’s 161,000 family carers, has expressed disappointment at the Government's failure to deliver meaningful assistance to Ireland’s family carers in the Budget.

A special €5m fund should be set-up to help teenagers caring for sick relatives, campaigners said today.

The Government will today be called on to give more support to carers across Ireland.

CHILDREN are caring for parents throughout their schooldays only to underachieve academically and get bullied as a result.

FAMILIES provide more than 3.5 million hours of support and work annually taking care of their loved ones, it was revealed yesterday as a competition was launched to find Ireland’s top carers.

ANNE HUGHES has been providing loving care for her daughter Debbie for almost 28 years and it is beginning to take its toll on her.

The body representing family carers in the home has said the measures announced in today's Budget "do not go far enough to deliver real support to Ireland’s family carers".

FAMILY carers claiming to contribute over €2 billion a year to the economy, yesterday demanded a raft of benefits in the upcoming budget.

A NATIONAL advertising campaign will take place next month to alert Ireland’s 150,000 family carers to their legal rights and entitlements.

MORE than 150,000 carers will be immediately better off under Fine Gael plans for increased financial support, party leader Enda Kenny claimed yesterday.

The body representing Ireland’s 150,000 family carers has today criticised the Department of Social Welfare’s delay in processing Carer’s Benefit.

CONSULTATIONS are to commence shortly on a national strategy that will fully address the provision of services, supports and entitlements for family carers, Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan announced yesterday.

St. Flannan’s 1-11Tralee CBS 0-13

THOUSANDS of carers struggle to cope over the festive season as a vast number of services and special needs schools shut down, it was warned today.

Thousands of carers struggle to cope over the festive season as a vast number of services and special needs schools shut down, it was warned today.

IRELAND’S 150,000 family carers are urging the Government to act on its promise to support them in next month’s Budget.

By Dan Buckley

SOCIAL and Community Affairs Minister Séamus Brennan has promised family carers a package of benefits in next month’s budget.

FAMILY carers should be paid at least €190 a week for minding their loved ones, a campaign group urged yesterday.

PAYMENTS to carers could be increased after the Government vowed to review their status following a scathing report which found most people struggle to juggle their caring responsibilities with work.

EMPLOYMENT legislation and State supports have failed carers looking for full or part-time work, a report found yesterday.

THE current carers’ allowance system has outlived its usefulness, a support group warned yesterday.

WHILE the nation has been basking in an Indian summer, thousands of full-time carers are struggling to care for family members.

The Carers' Association of Ireland has called for radical reform of the care system in Ireland to meet the growing demand as the aged population grows.