Paul Hopkins: We need to care much more for our carers

Sally Harding's report in last week's paper about a Navan mother with two autistic children who sees her rent rise 75 per cent because she is in receipt of Carer’s Allowance is a sad and damning indictment of how we care for carers.

The local authority tenant claims she is being unfairly penalised after being landed with a massive rent increase due to getting Carer’s Allowance with her children.

She became a tenant of Meath Co. Council having had to agree to a 'mortgage to rent' process in 2021 after losing her home. The mother-of-four is a carer for her sons aged 17 and nine. She began receiving Carer’s Allowance in September 2021, saying she did not realise she was entitled to it prior to this.

In the Census in 2022, the question on caring sought to identify people who provided regular unpaid personal help or support to a family member, neighbour or friend with a long-term illness, health issue or old age or disability.

Between 2016 and 2022, the number of people providing regular unpaid care increased by more than 50 per cent, from 195,263 people in 2016 to 299,128 in 2022. A greater proportion of unpaid care was provided by females compared with males, with 181,592 being female and 117,536 male.

The increase in Carer's Allowance in Budget 2024 marked an important first step, according to Family Carers Ireland (FCI), "in overhauling an outdated system that is no longer fit for purpose". The weekly allowance for a single person will rise – but not until June – from €350 to €450 and from €750 to €900 for a couple.

That's all very fine on paper but the reality is that the same 'set of rules' emphatically does not apply to all our carers and there is still an ongoing means test. The case of the Navan mother and carer of two children regarding penalising her with rent increase sees such a 'set of rules' apply.

The resounding defeat by 74 per cent of the care amendment to the Constitution must tell us something about our thoughts on how carers are treated. There is now another test case in the Supreme Court which could have systemic importance for those caring full-time at home. It involves a mother caring for her profoundly handicapped son 24/7 challenging the Department of Social Protection’s decision not to allow her the full rate of the allowance because her partner and father of their son earns €850 a week, although she has no means herself.

Her case rests partly on the provision in Article 41 of the Constitution which states that a woman should not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour outside the home. If the family amendment had been carried, this section would have been struck out and the chances of her challenge succeeding might well have been undermined.

The Government said that the fact that the referendums were held on March 8 ahead of this court case was "purely co-incidental". One wonders.

And one wonders does our State care enough about family carers given their commitment to demanding care within the home? Our carers save the Government billions a year by looking after family members with additional needs.

"We often describe ourselves the invisible army,” says Catherine Cox," of FCI. "We work behind closed doors and we get taken for granted because we are not going to down tools and strike."

The oft-quoted remark that "a civilisation is measured by how it treats its weakest members" or that "the greatness of a nation can be judged by how it treats its weakest member" is often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi – though I'm not sure it was he. I do know, though, that the care amendment defeated by 74 per cent should tell the Government something.

There are still deep concerns about care in this country, particularly in the case of those with special needs. These concerns could be dealt with by devoting more resources – putting some of our huge budget surplus, estimated at €8 billion for last year, into taking proper care of our carers and those they look after, day in and day out. Looking at respite and at exorbitant waiting lists for assessment. And being prepared to sack ineffective ministers or management.

Meanwhile, I am not holding my breath on the interdepartmental Working Group that's examining the whole method of means testing for carers – nor on the Government's promise that such a test will be gone by 2027