THE National Carers Association yesterday called for carers in the home to be included in the Organisation of Working Time Bill 1996, which limits the number of hours an employee can work in a week.
Its national chairman, Mr Frank Goodwin, said in order to qualify for the carer's allowance, a carer must provide full time care for a person and live under the same roof. "Unfortunately, the Department of Social Welfare's definition of full time is just that, in other, words 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Time out is not allowed under the current regulations," he said.
The association called on the Ministers for Social Welfare and Enterprise and Employment to "address this inequality".
