Full-time carers struggle through hot holiday season

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

Although regarded as the high holiday season, for many family carers, August brings only additional work and emotional pressure with no prospect of a holiday in sight, according to Enda Egan, acting chief executive of the Carers Association.

The increased pressure stems from the closure of most day care facilities for the month of August coupled with the fact that thousands of full-time carers cannot afford to pay for the respite care necessary to allow them to take holidays.

“The annual holiday season is a very difficult time for the thousands of carers who find themselves having to cope with the demands of providing 24-hour care for family members with no prospect of a holiday or even a weekend break. We are receiving a large numbers of calls from family carers seeking assistance in meeting the demands of family care at this time of the year,” according to Enda Egan.

Unfortunately, the unusually high temperatures are making the often difficult situation of carers in the home even harder to endure, she said.

There is an estimated 50,000 full-time carers in the country. Of these, only 20,000 receive some sort of financial assistance from the State up to a maximum weekly payment of €129.60.

Those carers in receipt of the Carers Allowance are entitled to a once-off annual respite grant of €725, a figure which can be used to pay for a nursing home or other appropriate respite care.

The remaining 30,000 full-time family carers receive no assistance whatsoever in relation to respite or holiday cover.