Department safe from spending cuts, says Hanafin

MINISTER FOR Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin has said other Government departments, rather than hers, will have to “feel the pinch” arising from the new economic climate.

Ms Hanafin said this would be necessary to protect social spending commitments.

“I think it’s the other departments that will feel the pinch to ensure the Department of Social and Family Affairs is able to provide for the people who are most vulnerable, and that is the main commitment of Government,” she said.

Given the economic climate, she said the first priority was to keep people in work, but for those who lost their jobs or were under financial pressure, the department would help. She said she did not envisage any saving been made in programmes under her department’s remit.

“None of the payments that we make to people are going to be cut back. In fact quite the opposite. There are people who unfortunately are losing their positions, their jobs, who are coming on the live register. They have to be paid and they will be paid. I want people to have that comfort and that security.

“And as well for people who are perhaps running into difficulty with their rent or with their mortgage, if they lose their jobs help is available for them as well,” Ms Hanafin said.

She was speaking following the publication of a report which found that the State’s 160,000 carers feel overwhelmingly overburdened, unrecognised and unappreciated.

The Listening to Carers report says the current system of delivering care to the elderly, ill and disabled, which is heavily reliant on family carers, is unsustainable. It calls for adequate income support and a range of support services for carers.

The report was carried out by the Carers’ Association and funded by the Equality Authority.

The key message from the consultations with 428 carers throughout the State, says the report, is that as the population ages and labour force participation of younger people increases, family life will “become increasingly jeopardised unless the fundamentals of carer policy are given new direction and impetus”.

Carers’ Association chief executive Enda Egan called on the Government to take on more of the responsibility for providing care.

A recurrent issue was insufficient provision of home services such as home help and home nursing as well as day care and community services, he said. Carers said they felt taken for granted by the Health Service Executive and the State.

“Applications for home help or other supports may be rejected because of a presumption that there is a family carer to do the job,” he added.

The report says that though there is a stated policy of supporting family carers, the consultations suggest that much of the plans have not been implemented. Again and again carers report being kept at arms length by public services and being left to cope with their responsibilities on their own.