Fine Gael unveils €140m plan to support carers better

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

Launching a document entitled 24-7-365 yesterday, the party vowed to introduce a raft of measures if returned to government.

The title of the report refers to the reality that carers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year.

The main points of the policy are:

* The introduction of individual testing for the carer’s allowance, which would not take into account the carer’s partner when making an assessment for a claim.

* The abolition of present regulations excluding State pension claimants from availing of the carer’s allowance. Elderly people looking after a loved one full-time would receive a half-payment of the carer’s allowance on top of their pension.

* Support for the 3,000 young carers in Ireland aged 15 to 17 years. This would include home help and educational support.

* Establishing a ‘one-stop-shop’ for carers operated by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, which would assess carers’ needs and advise on what services and entitlements are available to them.

* Measures to facilitate carers who wish to take up part-time work. This would include additional home help and priority access to training and PRSI incentives.

* The introduction of a support network providing contact with fellow carers and care associations.

Mr Kenny said the measures would cost in the region of €140 million, which he said was very small in the context of the role carers perform in society.

“These measures are practical, implementable and cost-effective,” he said.

“We should not just be seen as an economy, but as a society and as a people.”

Fine Gael said some 3,000 carers were under the age of 18, and that this often impacted on their education and career opportunities.

Transport spokesperson Olivia Mitchell said the paper, if implemented, would give carers a recognition that they deserve.

Enda Egan of the Carers’ Association said all parties had made promises in the run-up to the 2002 General Election but none had been fully borne out.

Mr Kenny replied: “These proposals will be for immediate implementation.”

However, Social Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan said supporting carers was a top priority of the Government.

“There has been a five-fold increase in carers’ payments since Fine Gael left office, up from €46m in 1997 to €232m at the end of 2005,” he said.

He pointed out that the Government had introduced both the carer’s allowance for 26,000 carers and carer’s benefit support schemes.