Cost of living: Carers struggling with rising prices

Carers in Northern Ireland are "on their knees, financially" as the cost of living increases, Craig Harrison, of Carers NI, has said.

Mr Harrison said that he was aware of female carers "having to make their own sanitary products" because of rising costs.

On Friday the energy company SSE Airtricity announced that it is putting up its gas and electricity prices in Northern Ireland again.

It comes after Ofgem announced the energy price cap in Great Britain will rise to £3,549 a year from October and Stormont Finance Minister Conor Murphy confirmed that the UK government would deliver an energy bill discount of £400 to help households in Northern Ireland that are struggling with the increasing cost of living.

Carer Donna Dugan, from Carrowdore, County Down, says finding extra cash for days out and activities with her elderly mother is now proving difficult.

She works full-time and cares for her mother Anne, 86, who has vascular dementia and Alzheimer's.

“It’s hard and as well it’s a dilemma because, like anything, we know our time together is limited, there’s going to be an end," she said.

"But we want to have the good times as much as we can together now.

"I want to see mummy as happy and able to enjoy the rest of her life.”

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