The current Carer’s Allowance system urgently needs ‘new oversight’ because a ‘small minority of recipients’ are ‘blatantly abusing’ it, Sage Advocacy has warned
The report highlights that many dedicated family carers, who receive Carer’s Allowance payments, not only provide excellent care but ‘go above and beyond the call of duty’.
However the Providing Care to Vulnerable Adults Living at Home: Need for More Oversight of Carer’s Allowance System report also details in depth how the current system is susceptible to abuse.
The Carer’s Allowance system costs the tax payer in the region of €1.2 billion annually. Research suggests there are an estimated 375,000 carers in the country – but only one in five receive a Carer’s Allowance payment.
Michael Cahillane, Sage Advocacy’s regional co-ordinator for Kerry & Cork West who compiled the report, believes the current lack of oversight can lead to the ‘financial abuse and maltreatment’ of people who have been assessed as needing full-time care.
Sage Advocacy is recommending that a number of new initiatives be introduced to address the current lack of oversight of the Carer’s Allowance system.
These include:
- Mandatory standardised regulation should be established.
- A monitoring process should be put in place from the beginning of the granting of Carer’s Allowance with the prior knowledge of both the care provider and the care recipient.
- Training and education should be provided to Carer’s Allowance recipients at the outset and on a regular basis.
- A proper monitoring and reporting structure should be in place ensuring that a link person is available to the vulnerable persons (care recipients) as required.
- Garda vetting of Carer’s Allowance recipients should be mandatory.
- A transparent complaints process should be available to both care recipients and care providers.
- Training and education should be provided to Carer’s Allowance recipients at the outset and on a regular basis.
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