SOUTHSIDE carers have spoken of how they are facing an increasingly difficult struggle to look after their loved ones in the New Year as the cuts announced in the budget hit home.

In the budget on December 6, the Government announced that it was cutting the carers’ respite grant, which is intended to help carers take a break or holiday, from €1,700 a year to €1,375.

Many carers will also be affected by cuts to gas and electricity allowances that have been reduced from the current €41 to €35 per month and from €22.60 to €9.50 for the telephone payment.

Medical card holders who previously paid 50c per prescription will now pay €1.50, while the monthly threshold for purchasing prescription drugs has increased from €132 a month to €144.

Des Coffey (48), from Tymonville Park in Tallaght, cares for his 19-year-old daughter Danielle who has Down’s Syndrome, has severe learning difficulties, is severely autistic and has kidney problems.

Mr Coffey, whose main source of income is his weekly e204 carers’ allowance, said the cuts in the respite care grant and household benefits package would place a further financial burden on his household.

“I really depend on the electricity and the heating,” he explained. “The heating is on all the time because of Danielle’s medical condition. She has kidney problems and if it is in any way cold she can pick up an infection. I get a basic bi-monthly bill of about €300.

“Every year I use the care grant to take my daughter away on little breaks that she may need. I need a break myself and last year was the first time I had been away on my own without Danielle on a holiday. I am not able to save for any particular event and that money was a godsend.”

Carolyn Akintola (48) also cares full-time for her mother Elsie Kellaghan (78), who suffers from end stage kidney disease and Parkinson’s Disease, in the family home in Fettercairn, Tallaght.

Carolyn suffers from Ehrlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic disorder that can lead to joint and skin problems, as well as ruptured internal organs and heart problems. Both Carolyn and her mother are wheelchair users.

She explained that the cuts to the respite grant, a substantial portion of which she uses for transport costs to pay for taxis to and from Tallaght Hospital, have meant that she may not be able to attend certain scheduled medical appointments.

Carolyn said her mother needs to attend Tallaght Hospital at least once a month for appointments and more frequently than that if she is ill.

“I use the respite care grant for the extra costs involved in caring like extra heat, extra laundry and extra transport, which is a nightmare for mum and I because we are both wheelchair users,” she said.

“That requires two taxis wherever we need to go and that soon adds up. And each hospital visit costs e40.

“The effect of the cuts is that you are watching heating a bit more closely. If there is a hospital appointment you are wondering would you get away without going. It is heaping anxiety onto anxiety.”

Cathy White, area manager of the Carers’ Association in Clondalkin, said her members were angry about the cuts.

“On average, between the cut in the care grant, the prescription charges and the household benefits package, carers will be down between seven and nine euro a week,” she said. “If you are just living on social welfare that is a lot of money for anyone but when there is caring involved it is twice as much because there are a lot of costs associated with caring.”

A spokesperson at the Department of Social Protection said the rate of the respite care grant tripled in the last 10 years from €635 in 2002 to €1,700 in 2012.

“Expenditure on the grant has increased by 280 per cent since 2005 from €34.3 million to €130 million in 2011,” she said.

“It is important to bear in mind that the rate of carers’ allowance is being maintained and the half-rate carers’ allowance is being protected.”

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