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Carolyn Atkintola (left) in her home in Dublin is a full time carer for her mother Elsie Kellaghan (right). Sam Boal/ Photocall Ireland

Respite care grant cut by over €300 in budget

The reduction represents a 19 per cent cut in the payment which is used by carers to pay for home help and respite care.

CARERS WILL BE more than €300 out of pocket next year as the government revealed a cut to their annual payment, the Respite Care Grant in its budget for 2013.

The weekly rates of Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit will be maintained in 2013 and carers who are caring for more than one person will continue to retain the extra weekly payment they receive.

However the annual grant carers receive to contribute towards respite care will now be at the reduced rate of €1,375 representing a cut of more than €300.

The grant is paid to more than 77,000 families in the country, 20,000 of whom receive no other support from the state for providing full-time care for a family member. It is used by carers to buy home care or pay for residential respite care in order to give them a break from their caring role.

The cut of more than 19 per cent has been criticised by the Carer’s Association which said it is “extremely disappointed” as the grant allowed carers a “much needed break”.

“Despite working seven days a week, 365 days a year, carers are entitled to no holidays and no breaks,” Catherine Cox of the Carer’s Association said. “This grant goes some way towards allowing this.”

“We continue to see a huge disparity between policy and practice on the ground where core services to family carers such as home help hours continue to be slashed while government make promises of supporting, valuing and empowering family carers,” she added.

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41 Comments
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    Mute Ned Flanders
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:48 PM

    Went today. Its great craic and well worth a trip out. The Garda have done a great job with traffic in the area too.

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    Mute Finbarr Lucey
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    Sep 18th 2018, 10:52 PM

    @Ned Flanders: of all the ploughing matches I went to over the years I have to say screggan tullamore is by far the best area to hold the event. So easy to get there and get back from. No delays , very well managed by the Gardai . And very Central for people to travel. Should be held there every year I think.

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    Mute Bilbo Baggins
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    Sep 18th 2018, 11:02 PM

    @Finbarr Lucey: couldn’t agree more. Especially after the disaster that was New Ross.

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    Mute Finbarr Lucey
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    Sep 18th 2018, 11:25 PM

    @Bilbo Baggins: and castlemartyr

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    Mute Siobhàn Malone
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:58 PM

    Should it last for four days to allow for issues like these and accommodate the vast crowds that want to attend…? has the ploughing out-grown 3 days?

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    Mute LITTLEONE
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:40 PM

    Going on Thursday so hopefully bit better weather.

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    Mute Dáithí O Raghailaigh
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    Sep 18th 2018, 9:41 PM

    that’s the headline for all the papers tomorrow ..

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    Mute Joe L
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    Sep 18th 2018, 10:43 PM

    97,500 there today. Will it ever get to the stage where there are too many people on site?

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    Mute Do the Bort man
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    Sep 19th 2018, 9:31 AM

    @Joe L: there 112,500 attended the first day last year, I was there on that day and yesterday, it’s very busy where the walkways intersect, but overall its ok

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    Mute Seeking Truth
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    Sep 19th 2018, 7:17 AM

    Extending the show to a 4th day is a great idea. The traffic is always terrible so maybe that would ease things up a bit…

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    Mute James O'Brien
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    Sep 18th 2018, 10:18 PM

    Who got knocked out by a fart wind then..

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 19th 2018, 10:11 AM

    @James O’Brien: Feeling a bit thick now are you? Check out also the mounting damage and the death. Fool.

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    Mute DeFonz
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    Sep 19th 2018, 8:22 AM

    Is plough judging so minutely calibrated that they had a concern that the wind might disrupt the pattern of soil on the top of the furrows to such a degree that the readings would be inaccurate?

    have no knowledge of this stuff, merely intrigued by rural matters…

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 19th 2018, 8:44 AM

    @DeFonz: try Google and learn a bit.

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