Calls for minimum wage pay for carers

LOBBY groups for carers have called for payment equal to the minimum wage for those looking after ageing, disabled or infirm relatives in the home.

Carers are paid either a benefit or allowance up to a maximum of €200 a week, but Care Alliance Ireland (CAI) claims this is a subsistence payment and not a reflection of the work carers are doing.

CAI national development officer Liam O'Sullivan said: "Many carers' organisations feel the carer's allowance should not be viewed solely as a subsistence payment, as it currently is, but more akin to a wage, as is done in many European countries."