Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
Link to this: Individually | In context

825. To ask the Minister for Health the steps her Department is taking to support the mental health of young carers given they are five times more likely to suffer from depression than their peers. [25452/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Young carers are children and young people whose lives are in some way affected because they provide care, assistance or support to a family member in the home. Many young carers enjoy caring and are proud of what they do. Sometimes though, young carers say that caring can affect how they feel, how much time they get to spend with friends, or their school work, and that often they need some help.

Family carers are key enablers of Government policy to support people to live with dignity and independence in homes and communities of their choosing for as long as possible by providing vital care to some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Through funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund, Family Carers Ireland have developed a series of specialised e-learning modules for young family carers, aimed at assisting young carers with a range of issues related to their caring role including managing stress and anxiety and supporting good mental health and self-care.

Young carers may also avail of general carer supports funded by the Department of Health. Since Budget 2021, recurring funding of €2m has been allocated towards the Carer’s Guarantee, to provide a core basket of services to family carers across the country, regardless of where they live. €0.6m in additional funding has been provided in Budget 2025, bringing total funding for the Scheme to €2.6m.

This funding helps to provide a more standard package of supports to family carers in every region, in tandem with the community and voluntary sector. From 2025, €2.44 million of this funding will be provided to Family Carers Ireland (FCI) to deliver a mix of community and individual supports across five areas of activity: community carer supports; intensive and emergency supports; education and training; FCI’s freephone careline; and psychosocial supports. FCI also operate a network of online young carer support groups. These Groups offer information, advice and practical supports as well as giving young carers an opportunity to come together providing important emotional and peer support. €160,000 is supporting the development and delivery of online supports for over 8,000 family carers through Care Alliance Ireland by means of an online support group.

There are a wide range of free mental health supports provided by the HSE or agencies on its behalf young carers may also avail of to receive support including Jigsaw, Pieta, Aware, 'Text About It' and MyMind. Details of these services are available on the HSE website yourmentalhealth.ie.