Thousands of carers are cutting back on food and heat to make ends meet while at the same time paying out privately for crucial equipment such as wheelchairs for their loved ones, which should be funded by the public system.
That is according to a new report from Family Carers Ireland, which spoke to 3,000 carers who said the growing financial strain and isolation make "your world shrink".
As many as one in seven adults in Ireland are carers, analysis for the government’s Healthy Ireland report showed last year. This new survey shows 48 per cent suffering with severe loneliness, the Irish Examiner reports.
Other startling revelations include:
- 18 per cent find it “extremely difficult” to make ends meet and 71% find it "difficult" to make ends meet
- 49 per cent have cut back on food or heat and 76% have cut back on non-essentials
- 75 per cent of carers have never received respite options for their loved one
- 55 per cent paid for products or services which in theory they were entitled to have provided free through public services
Family Carers Ireland research manager Nikki Dunne said: “I think the words that really summed this survey up for me were ‘your world shrinks’.
“That sentiment came up again and again in different ways. It wasn’t just about not having people to talk to, it was about the lack of respite, the lack of formal supports, the financial difficulties.”
