Sir, – Helen O’Rahilly’s experience of Irish bureaucracy (Weekend Review, November 30th) is familiar to me.
I applied for the carer’s allowance in October 2018, so that I could support my 90-year-old husband who has a severe heart condition, at home. It was five months before I received a reply to my application. In exquisite Dickensian language the social welfare services informed me that every applicant must “furnish” certain documents in support of their claim and stated that I had failed in this requirement.
However, at the time of application I had submitted all the certificates requested.
This was a detailed, complex and time-consuming endeavour requiring backup from my GP.
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It seems to me that this system is designed to deter rather than encourage people to care for sick or elderly relatives at home. In addition, it is a form of bureaucracy that is counterproductive since it inevitably places more pressure on the State and penalises those (mainly women) who are carers. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET HOUGH,
Donegal.