Irish Carers want our Government to make a commitment to a national strategy plan
In Ireland 61% of carers spend over 100 hours a week looking after loved ones.
That is the equivalent of two and a half normal working weeks for a full-time worker. There are some 275,000 people in Ireland aged 15 and over who provide unpaid, informal care.
And some 50,000 people receive the carers allowance which is means-tested.
Carers groups are calling on the government to commit to a National Carers Strategy.
Over 150 events are taking place across the country over the next 7 days as part of National Carers Week.
On Wednesday carers’ groups will ask Oireachtas members to commit to supporting the publication of the first-ever National Carers’ Strategy and will seek a clear time frame for its implementation.
Liam O’Sullivan is executive director of the Care Alliance which provides support to family carers.
Meanwhile in Great Britain a survey shows:
Concerns are voiced over carers own
'physical & mental health'
Tracy Sloan above right almost missed her own cancer diagnosis because she was looking after her disabled son.
Two in five unpaid carers are sacrificing their own health by putting off medical treatment while they look after someone, according to a new report.
Many have delayed treatments such as cancer screening or a hernia operation as a result of their caring responsibilities. The survey found that caring had a negative impact on the health of almost nine in 10 carers (87%) in Scotland. Almost half (41%) suffered a physical injury such as back pain through caring for someone ill, frail or disabled.
Charities say the survey, launched to mark Carers Week, is further evidence of a growing care crisis. They are calling for better financial and practical support for the more than 650,000 unpaid carers in Scotland so they can look after their health and well-being.
Almost nine in 10 (87%) of those who responded to the survey said that caring for a family member or friend has had a negative impact on their mental health. Nearly two thirds (62%) blamed their poor health on a lack of practical support and 51% on not enough financial support.
Sandy Wilson, 49, from Glenrothes, Fife, has put off an endoscopy appointment to establish whether she has an ulcer. She cares full time for son Alastair, 29, who has learning difficulties and was born with a bowel problem, which has resulted in frequent hospitalisation all of his life.
She suffers from a number of stress-related health problems, including panic attacks and chest pains. She said: “At one point, my doctor gave me antidepressants, but I stopped taking the medication because I didn’t have the energy to look after Alastair.
“I was also supposed to go for an appointment for an endoscopy to check out if I’ve got an ulcer, but I put it off because I didn’t know what would happen to Alastair if I was in hospital. When you’re on your own, you just have to get on with it. But sometimes you just don’t want to get up in the mornings. I just feel like giving up sometimes.”
Carers Week is calling for sustainable social care funding, better signposting and access to support services and for regular health checks to be offered to carers. It is a consortium of eight national charities comprising Age UK, Carers Trust, Carers UK, Independent Age, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, MS Society and Parkinson’s UK.
Florence Burke, director for Scotland for The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Scotland, said: “We’ll continue to work to make sure that statutory providers take account of carers and their needs and that the specialist services provided by local carers’ centres receive continued funding for the essential role they play in easing the caring journey.”
The survey questioned 322 unpaid carers in Scotland who look after a family member or friend online and via post from January to March.
Man dies after weekend crash in Donegal
The man seriously injured in a crash in Donegal on Saturday last has died.
Named locally as Stephen McElwaine, the 34-year-old sustained serious injuries when the van he was travelling in overturned on a rural road.
He was a passenger in the vehicle when it flipped over on the Drumkeen to Stranorlar Road in the townland of Ballinaglack. He was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital where he died from his injuries today.
Another passenger and the driver, both men, were treated at the scene for minor injuries
‘This will be one of the most unforgettable days of my life’ Aung San Suu Kyi declares in Dublin
Addressing the audience in Dublin this evening, Burmese pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi said that today will be “one of the unforgettable days” of her life.
“I have been welcomed to Ireland as though I belong to you,” she told the crowds at Grand Canal Square. “You have stood by us in our times of trouble. These troubles are not yet all over and I am confident that you will continue to stand with us.”
Please believe that when I say that you are a part of my heart, I really mean it with my whole heart.
Suu Kyi’s words were made after she was presented with the prestigious Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award at a ceremony at the Bord Gáis Theatre.
She also formally received the Freedom of the City, which had been bestowed on her in 2000. A sculpture of Irish bog oak, entitled In Flight to symbolise her new-found freedom, was also presented to the Burmese civil rights activist.
Suu Kyi arrived in Dublin this morning fresh from delivering her Nobel Lecture, a full 21 years after she received the peace award. It is only her second trip outside of Burma, where she was held on house arrest for over 20 years, since the 1980s.
Introducing Suu Kyi today, Lord Mayor of Dublin Andrew Montague likened her to Irishman Daniel O’Connell because of their peaceful protests.
Earlier today, she was welcomed at Dublin Airport by U2 frontman Bono and an Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.
Gilmore described the visit as something “which we have long hoped to see”.
“Above all today is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the warmth and affection in which this remarkable and courageous woman is rightly held by the Irish people,” he added.
During her trip to Áras an Uachtaráin, President Michael D Higgins recalled when her case was first brought to his attention in 1989 through material forwarded by her late husband Michael Aris.
“This formed the basis for my raising and pursuing her situation, and that of the people of Burma, in the Oireachtas in late 1989 and on through 1991 and succeeding years,” he remembered.
A group of men, women and children from the Burmese community in Ireland were given a special place at the events this evening and could be heard chanting and cheering for Suu Kyi through the evening.
A special rendition of Happy Birthday was also sung as it is the activist’s birthday tomorrow.
New drug’s deal means cheaper medicines on the way, so says Minister James Reilly
The price of some medicines in Ireland is set to be reduced, the Minister for Health has just announced.
An agreement has been struck between the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association and the HSE which will see the cost of some off-patent medicines cut, saving the HSE some €20 million per year.
The move will see 30 per cent cut off the price of an off-patent medicine once a generic equivalent comes on the market. Previously the cost was cut by 20 per cent under a previous deal.
The price will fall even further once the generic equivalent has been on the market for just under two years.
The move is expected to save €10 million for the remaining months of this year, and €20 million in a full year.
As part of the agreement the HSE will give its approval to the reimbursement of drugs which in the normal course of events would have been approved for reimbursement under the schemes.
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