If we’re going back to 2006 then abolish all quangos set up from 2006 on.

Dramatically less in fact Kerry. Bertie paid himself in excess of 300k in 2006. Current figure is 200k. BTW the drop is 300 euro a year which most of the people will spend today as part of the protest!!!

BTW! Can someone answer me why Ireland has such a huge level of carers and also people classed with disabilities relative to other EU countries?

I no lots of careers getting a weekly allowance, all actually of who I no get it! Yes u could say go back to 2006 but look at all the other measures have come in since then! In 2006 the figure was what it’s back to now but u had no other additional deficiencies in place so 1, 325 seemed a very decent respite care figure

I no what the issue is! Carers care for a relative full time and get a respite grant each year that has been cut by 300 odd! What have ye got to say about mothers been cut by child benefit 3 years in a row struggling to put food on table for kids

For the record despite the Indo trying to make it sound dramatic. 9 members of Goverment travelled to that for a total figure of 35k. As a person who travels a lot with work. 9 people to Doha for 8 days including flights , accomodation etc. is excellent value.

@vanessa I no exactly what I’m talking about

@vanessa we no at this stage politicians are not gonna take big salary cuts so cuts will come in elsewhere! Until we come out of this revision fully (if ever) cuts are going to be made and people are not going to like it! Ill pur it this way I doubt very much in next years budget that they will go near carers at all

Are you a cater shane?

*carer**

@ryan no but I no people who are

Until you have to change your fathers nappy, feed him baby food, crush his meds and make sure he takes them, bathe him, clothe him, wipe the dribble, try to keep his mind active, constantly be on hand to look after him just like a baby them I will listen to your drivel. This government has gone one step too far with this cut! Not taking a smidgin of a pay decrease them selves while taking away from the people who need it most is a filthy thing to do. Carers WORK 24/7, 365 days a year, this cut is unjustified while we continue to pay our ministers huge salaries and not to mention UNSECURED bondholders. Your talking out or your arse. This is unjust, simple as that.

They get a respite care figure that the majority use on holidays! In most cases while the carer is on holiday a family member out of the goodness of their heart would take over for a week! All I’m saying is 1,325 is still a nice respite grant to go on a lovely holiday! Yes ur right politicians should get their fat arses hit but no point talking about something that won’t happen

@Shane, SHUT UP!

Don’t like what I just said Richard! My last comment sums up my thinking on this

They will never means test children’s allowance! It should be taxed as in income

Yeah you should have more guts like Marcus and spout crap on the internet about how ordinary decent people who are trying to make ends meet in awful circumstances are spineless because they don’t have time energy or money to be out shouting docile repetitive dull unimaginative crap at the dail

You’d need a second republic for that sort of thing. The fat cats are never going to give up gorging themselves on their self made cakewalk still playing risk (the board game) with lives according to their civil war political policies.

We need a wholesale clear out of the scroungers, Mé Féiners and long term institutionalised TDs

We need to do away with the Republic of Ireland first and set up a second republic. This whole country has been rotten to the core from the start.

Because martina not everyone agrees that all carers deserve the same respite care grant! Yes they deserve something but not all the same

From the people I no! Everyone is intitled to a break for ONE WEEK a year!

Angle do u get a weekly allowance?

It’s not that it pays for a holiday Shane, it pays (in our case anyway) for my brother to go into respite care so that my mam can take a few days off. The grant may be back to 2006 levels but back then places like John of Gods had respite places available but they’ve all been cut to the bone now so it’s not comparing like with like. 1300 doesn’t cover a lot when you’ve to pay for care, proving once again how much carers are saving the state.

Right just a suggestion Helen! Have u family members who could take up the mantel for one week to give ur mam a break? Somone to do it from goodness of there heart?

We do that already Shane, not ‘out of the goodness of our heart’ as you patronisingly term it but because that’s what you do for family – but my mam is 74 and has her own health issues and is living on a widows pension and deserves more than a couple of days off a year. Thanks to emigration I’m the only family member left living in Ireland and I’m on the other side of the country, with my own family to care for. Not everyone fits so easily into your scroungers box.

Well I would really feel sorry for ur mam having to care full time for someone at 74 with health issues of her own! That is extremely difficult

Typical that’s how much you know about what Carers do and their need to get some time off this is essential

Would you be delirious about providing around the clock care? Incontinence care? Begging for a few hours home help so you could go on a wild crazy fun trip to tesco? Keep strong in your actions carers, the entire country (apart from him :-/) is behind you.

Nobody would be delirious about providing round the clock care! I’m not commenting on that, I’m commenting on the sum of money

Shane- if you’re not ‘commenting on that’ what’s your point? Why do you think they are getting that money? It’s because they are caring 24/7 for someone. Do you realise how much it would cost the state if they stopped and left you and I pick up the tab? It’s easy make financial observations from a far, when you skewer the realities to suit your agenda. This severe cut was totally unacceptable. FG and Lab can distract people with waffle about abortion debates and social issues, but we have all seen the truth now and whether or not they roll it back they will pay electorally for this. The national mood is changing and people are realising they need to protest and be heard, or this lot will ignore our pleas.

id like to see you try my life for one day ! cause you obviously havent got a clue how hard it is 24/7 . you have no idea how hard a carers life is on daily basis !

Well said Elaine. My mum is a full time carer for her brother, who is disabled and getting quite old now, so I can relate to the anger being felt by people over this issue. I was horrified when I heard the Taoiseach’s pay was being protected YET AGAIN, while lower income families were being hit again. We should all be on the streets protesting this agenda.

I’m not doubting for a minute how hard your life is! Are ye saying the respite grant shouldn’t of been touched at all?

Kenneth that’s well said but would it get u anywhere? We’re all been cut in diff ways right left and centre

Shane- The respite grant should not have been touched, as carers lives are hard enough as it is. Yes, we have all been hit, but carers earn a pittance for a 24/7 job, which saves the state millions a year. Why not cut, or postpone, increments to top civil servants? why not raise income tax on people earning over €150,000? Why didn’t our politicians take a hit in this budget? There are many ways this money could have been saved, but they chose a self serving course and I sincerely hope people show them they will not get away with it by protesting and peacefully resisting their agenda. I can see you are receiving quite a hostile reception on this thread, but I think you just don’t understand the enormity of the job and how little these people are paid for such an enormous job. Regardless of whether we agree, it’s good people can air these issues and clarify some misgivings about opposing positions.

Yes i understand! They only get a weekly allowance and then this once off yearly payment! What I have to ask carers is does it make a momentous difference to u, 1,700 odd down to 1,300 odd?

Shane- Look at the anger and upset this has caused across the state. What do you think? We are having this conversation BECAUSE people feel aggrieved at this move. They feel cheated by this government and, in my opinion, rightly so.

no it shouldnt have been touched ! how about we bring all the ppl we care for into a&e and see how the hospital copes with what we have to deal with day in day out, im so disgusted , ive also lost money in other things in the budget , how much more can they take from ppl!

Shane- is that question for me, or in general? I believe all respite carers, regardless of the persons disability, should get this grant. Would you like us to grade our disabled Shane? Is that how you view this dilemma? Will we, perhaps, make the incontenent and infirm wear a badge? Will someone with your compassion do the grading??I am beginning to think you are living in cloud cuckoo land, when it comes to caring for the disabled, to be honest. ALL carers are more than deserving of this grant. I couldn’t understand the cold blooded disconnect, which permeates through FG, and now Labour, prior to this conversation, but I see it now. We can pay our Taoiseach €200,000 a year, but the thought of preserving the grant for carers and the disabled is crazy stuff altogether? it must be for you to come in here and challenge people who know this subject in a profoundly personal way. It’s pure bullshit self-serving logic, Shane, regardless of how the government, and now you, spin it. We, as a people, have wearied of FG’s top down thinking. Austerity be damned. Our society cannot, and must not, target the weakest in our group.

I’m not adding anymore I said it! U cannot compare one disability to the next! Some person might have a slight ailment n fully operate themselves! Does there carer deserve full respite care along with a weekly allowance! Not a chance

They deserve a weekly allowance and some respite care but not 1, 700

And the Taoiseach deserves €200,000 for cowering in a corner in Europe, right? That’s your logic Shane and it speaks volumes about your world view. It says much more than any of your detractors have touched on, to be fair. I’d argue carers deserve more, Shane. Much more! It’s difficult to quantify and qualify the savings, which their hard work, gives the Irish exchequer. We should appreciate those in our society who provide this service, Shane, and not let eejits ruin our country and continue to dictate pig-ignorant policies to us from within the artificial bubble that surrounds Leinster House. Enda and Eamon are aged politicians, who are more afraid of their pensions being lost than the societal ramifications for their actions. FF were untouchable once, Shane. FG and Lab feel untouchable now, but all failed regimes fall and this lot have sealed their faith. Shame on anyone that views the world in such a way. Our society will be judged by the way we care for the old and infirm.

The same applies with children’s allowance and one family deserves more then others! Will u stop comparing it to the government! Everyone no’s even eejits that the government are not gonna talk hge cuts, it’s normal people that will take the cuts

Shane- ‘everyone knows, even eejits that the government won’t take huge cuts’? I don’t, Shane. Why should the disabled be cut, while they are protected? This is clearly acceptable to you, but it is not to me. I don’t view the world is such a shallow, wealth protecting way and clearly, when I look back at the many comments you’ve received on this thread, I am not alone in the belief. You can lie down and prostrate yourself before FG’s disgusting agenda, but I will not.

No lad I speak logically when I say the government won’t take major cuts! I don’t speak about something that I no wont happen! Yes they should be hit(politicians) but they won’t be! It’s us everyday folk that will but I stick to my point about respite care! All carers don’t deserve the same amount

And I disagree Shane.

Grand we disagree :)