Families who employ a qualified live-in carer to look after their elderly will have half the carer’s wages subsidised to tackle waiting lists in government homes.
A €1 million fund will be set up and initially rolled out as a pilot project aimed at targeting about 170 families.
There are 1,400 elderly people on the government home waiting list.
If a family engages a qualified carer on a full-time basis, the government will be forking out the equivalent of half the minimum wage. If a carer is employed on a part-time basis, the subsidy will be worked out pro-rata.
Currently, the government retains 80 per cent of an elderly’s pension when s/he is enrolled in a government home. This 80 per cent, plus the subsidised amount, should make up a carer’s minimum wage.
The government will need to ensure that the project is not abused by people employing a maid instead of a carer.
As a pilot project, the scheme will come into effect in January and will be offered to those elderly patients who are already on the waiting list. Elderly patients who benefit from such a subsidy will be removed from the waiting list.
Apart from this, the two present schemes – the carers’ pension and the social assistance for carers – will be revised and amalgamated into a single framework.
The scheme’s eligibility will also be revised and widened to encapsulate more people taking care of their elderly at home and, therefore, to help more elderly to continue living in their own homes. Currently, to be entitled to this benefit, applicants must either be single or widows who are taking care of a sick, elderly relative by themselves on a full-time basis.
Relatives must be the parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, brothers or sisters- in-laws and fathers-, mothers-in-laws.
As the system stands, the elderly patient has to be either a wheelchair user or bedridden.