Carers group claims its members save State €2.5bn

FAMILY CARERS are propping up the health system by providing more than three million hours of care to relatives every week yet they receive no recognition, the Carers Association claimed yesterday.

Its chief executive, Enda Egan, said the health system would not be able to cope if carers decided to stop doing this work which was worth more than €2.5 billion to the economy every year.

Mr Egan said carers could not take “blue flu” days or drive their tractors down Dublin streets. They would not stop doing the work they do because they loved the people they cared for.

“But it’s grossly unfair if people are taken advantage of and held over a barrel because of that four-letter word – love,” he said.

Carers had to remember that they would never get anything just because they deserved it, he said. They would only get it if they badgered and bargained and did not give up.

Mr Egan was speaking in Dublin yesterday as the Carers Association began a membership drive. There are more than 160,000 carers in the State and the Carers Association works with some 10,000 of these.

Mr Egan urged carers to join the association and have their voices heard in a campaign to improve the quality of life for carers. He warned that carers would have to fight harder for their rights in the coming years as the effects of the recession were felt.

Carer Anne Hughes from Tullamore, Co Offaly, said the association was like “another pair of hands” for her, as she cared for her daughter Debbie (30) who has autism and intellectual disabilities. “It’s a shoulder to cry on and whenever you are low, go in. Somebody will always have time to have a chat with you,” she said.

Ms Hughes said she had to fight for everything she got for her daughter. “You’ve got to beg. You’ve got to be in their faces constantly,” she said.

“The predicament with Debbie is that she is only 30 and she has her whole life ahead of her . . . and unfortunately I don’t and she’s full of energy,” she said.

“So my ambition at the moment is to try to set Debbie up in the best little life possible while I’m here and while I’m able to look after her.”

She said it was hurtful to see how some students could choose the schools they went to but Debbie had to wait until a vacancy arose, whether it suited her or not.

“To me, they are treated like second-class citizens. I feel that prisoners in this country have more rights than my Debs has. I think that’s very hurtful.”

The campaign was launched by RTÉ broadcaster Marty Whelan who, with his wife, cares for his 90-year-old mother who lives in her own home. They also cared for his mother-in-law before she died last year.

He criticised the lack of interest from politicians in the predicament of carers and said their work was making a “phenomenal” contribution to the economy.

“I’m very disappointed today to notice that we are across the road from the Dáil and there isn’t one representative from the Government or anybody from any of the parties here,” Mr Whelan said.