Carers’ Association launches first ever national strategy

The Carers' Association launched its first every national strategy document in Dublin today, to encourage the Government to formally recognise the role of family carers in Ireland.

Every day, more than 150,000 people provide care to family members in their homes.

This amounts to more than 3 million work hours per week.

The document, entitled “Towards a Family Carers Strategy”, calls for a number of measures to be implemented by the Government.

They include better support services, a fair system of remuneration, education, training, access to up-to-date information and work-life balance policies that support carers.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Social and Community Affairs Seamus Brennan stressed his commitment to improving the situation.

“We can't do enough. I mean, they [carers] take enormous pressure off the health services, they take a lot of pressure off nursing home facilities and they add to the quality of life by keeping people in the community for a long time.” Minister Brennan said.

Chairman of the Carers’ Association Frank Goodwin said he hopes to see a government wide approach to tackle the problem by the establishment of a cross departmental committee.

Mr Goodwin explained how difficult life can be for people caring for a relative and emphasised the need for extra support.

“When you are working in stressful conditions like that, if you don't have regular breaks, if you don't have regular health checks then you will inevitably have repercussions on your health,” he said.