Mr. Pat McLoughlin:

The Chairman raises an interesting issue relating to what are the triggers. Our study paints a picture of three quarters of family carers having no training. Some 48% look after the spouse for their total waking time. Most carers were on medication, with 57% on medication for blood pressure. This is often the time when their own care breaks down. One in four were frail or on the road to frailty after just one year of caring. Going back to the point I made to Deputy O'Reilly, because of the difference in regulation of respite in the home or in a facility registered by HIQA, we were not able to recruit the staff because of pay rates or HIQA happened to require a continuity. We had to exit that service. We have a respite centre with 11 beds which has been lying idle for two years and we now hope to contract with a private provider to provide it. Some 1,100 people were denied one week's respite which would have been superb for those with dementia and for carers. We have a dichotomy with the registration and regulation of home care as opposed to residential care. There is a very elaborate system and I am not denying that it needs to be, but when one holds a mirror to what is available in respite in the community, it shows the lack of provision to support family carers.