Carer ‘denied means’ to look after her sick child

A mother who has been refused the Carers’ Allowance after being forced to give up her job to look after her seriously ill daughter has pleaded with those forming the next government to adopt a more compassionate view of such cases.

Sylvia O’Riordan has already lost one daughter to microvillus inclusion disease (MID), which prevents nutrients being absorbed by the gut.

She and husband Eddie lost their 13-month-old daughter Hollie 11 years ago and her remaining daughter Lexie, 4, also has the disease. She is the only recorded case of MID in Ireland.