LANDY VOICES HIS SUPPORT OF CARERS

Issued : Thursday 4 July, 2013

“The Carer’s Association is one of the most important support associations in Irish society, it provides help and support to family members in a home-setting and ensures that those suffering from long term illnesses can be supported in their own family environment”

Speaking in Seanad Éireann this week Labour Senator Denis Landy called on the government to support the Carer’s Association in next October’s budget by protecting the rates of Carer’s allowances, by protecting the household benefit packages, by improving the appeals process to ensure that applications are processed within 12 weeks, by increasing transparency around the eligibility criteria including the financial assessments,  and by abolishing the double charge on the  dispensing of the same medication in varying doses for those affected by the current system.

Senator Landy was speaking having attended a pre-budget submission by the Carer’s Association in Leinster House and raised the issue in Seanad Éireann on the same morning. He called on the members of both houses of the Oireachtas to show their support to the Carer’s Association on the run-in to the budget.

 “The promissory note deal has made available an extra one billion euro to the government to assist in availing the 2014 budget. It is my firm belief that some of this money should be used to protect the services and the infrastructure of the Carer’s Association and those that they care for. I fully support their call for some of this funding to be made available to meet the criteria set out in a pre-budget submission” said Senator Landy