Submission 300
May 08
Green Paper Submission
Our 15 year old daughter has a life threatening condition. She has been left severely disabled mentally and physically. Through circumstances beyond my control I became a full-time Carer, a role I have fulfilled for almost 16 years.
I don’t have rights that other people take for granted, e.g. time off, holidays, weekends or bank holidays. My job is 24 hours 7 days a week 365 days a year. In addition to my caring role we have also had to fight and campaign for access and entitlement and medical services.
Despite my contribution to society the State regards and treats myself and my daughter as an ‘economic burden’. It introduced the policy of ‘Individualisation’ which is in effect a taxation on Carers. As a single income family we pay the top rate of tax €20,400 before a double income family. This in our opinion is gross discrimination. While my husband is treated as an ‘individual’ for taxation purposes, I am not treated the same for ‘benefit’ purposes.
I have no pension entitlement in my own right, either contributory or non-contributory. We cannot afford to make separate pension provision for me and even if we could, it would not qualify for any tax allowance. As the State don’t recognise my ‘employment’ I will not receive a Contributory pension. Bearing in mind the vast sums of money that Carers save the State surely paying these contributions is the least the State should do.
As a Carer, I at least took some comfort from the fact that my husband, who pays full A1 contributions, would be entitled to an Adult Dependant Allowance on his Old Age Contributory Pension in respect of myself. We were very surprised to recently learn from the Citizens Advice Bureau that this allowance is now subject to a means test. We would like to know exactly how and when this change was introduced as it received little or no publicity and many people are unaware of it.
Our role as Carers place an additional burden on our health. My husband who has to work extra long hours to support the family has already suffered a heart attack. He is unable to look after his own health needs as he is required to lift and carry our daughter despite being advised not to do so, on medical grounds, Cutbacks in health services have resulted in us not having respite for four months. Should anything happen to either my husband or myself we will be left in an unsustainable situation.
The ongoing refusal by the ‘partners’ at successive Programmes for Government to grant a fair deal for Carers is clearly not just or equitable. Neither is rule by the majority without taking the rights of minorities into account, democracy.
