Doors stay shut on homes where work of caring goes on in secret

All this politically correct blather about “care in the community” means, in practice, that families are left to cope as best they can in private, writes Victoria White

The Respite Care Grant doesn’t entitle you to respite care. It’s a bit like the Water Conservation Grant which may not help you save water. You might as well call it the “I’m sorry for your trouble” grant.

The €1,700 grant, which was restored to its full value in Tuesday’s Budget, having been savagely chopped by €325 three years ago, is desperately needed by many of us who care for disabled people because we lack services. But it would not go far in paying for respite services in difficult cases. And in some places for some people, the services simply do not exist.