Research carried out by University College Cork has revealed that children as young as six are caring for disabled relatives. The report will be published next month.

The findings, which were presented at a Combat Poverty seminar, state that 44 pc of people interviewed began caring before they were six years old.  

Director of the Combat Poverty Agency Kevin O’Kelly said there was no system to identify young carers and ensure they got the necessary supports. These children are ignored in official statistics, he said. In the 2006 Census the 3,175 carers classed as school-age children were 15 years or older - the census did not take account of children younger than 15 who were caring for a sick or disabled parent, sibling or relative.

Family break-ups and career pressures on parents are reported to have forced more and more school children into caring roles. Chief executive of the Carers’ Association Enda Egan said that the problems faced by young carers have become more alarming in the past two years.

Fine Gael social affairs spokesman David Stanton said the Government needs to take measures to give school-going carers “back their childhood”. The Government has committed to researching the area as part of the new social partnership agreement, Towards 2016. (Source: Irish Examiner)