Found the section in one of my old textbooks that explains the background of why things are more "hands off" by the State here. You tend to find the same in other countries that have a Roman Catholic background - and particularly where, as in Ireland, the Church and State were for so long, so closely bound. The principle of Subsidiarity comes into play, which in simple terms means the State should take care of the Big Government and stay out of things that don't concern it. That way, according to this principle, the Government can concentrate fully on more important things, and more minor issues can be dealt with by those more closely involved with them. So, in things like caring for ill or disabled or elderly relatives, that means in effect, that families are expected to provide care whenever possible. And because of this tradition, the provision of State care or facilities for the providing of adequate care, has fallen way behind - it was not deemed necessary. Anyway, to explain it more fully, here's the quote:
"A logical application of the subsidiarity principle to the context of social care dictates that care should be provided, whenever possible, by the social uinit closest to the person in need of care. In the first instance, this means the family and other informal carers. As Convery writes (2001, p.83: 'Traditionally, the family has taken most responsibility for the care of frail older people in Ireland, and this is still the expectation. Although adults are not legally obliged to care for their parents or other elderly relatives, there is an implied moral obligation placed on them to do so, whenever possible.' This tendency to rely on the family as the primary provider of care for older people has formed, Convery argues, the foundation of government policy leading to "the gross underdevelopment of [formal] community services for older people living at home. ....."
This attitude still holds, although the Catholic Church has lost it's stranglehold on the country to a large extent. And in fairness, it's one of those systems that does have a lot of plus points too. Obviously, the down side is that these days, the large extended family system and the close knit communities of earlier days no longer exist - so the family carers no longer have that support system, and so are in need of much more support from the State - but the State is not supplying that support. And this sort of separation by the State from direct involvement in the provision of Care is the reason for the complicated arrangements for funding for Nursing Home care. There are very few actual State run Nursing Homes here. There are some Voluntary Homes (sort of Charity run homes) but most are Private. the State subsidises the cost of care in a nursing home, and the person pays the rest from their income & assets. I think as time goes on, we will see things changing, and the State taking a bigger role in things, from necessity. Which will, like everything else, be a mixed blessing!
There are disadvantages and advantages to this whole hangover from the subsidiarity principle. But one of the good things about this idea of Subsidiarity is the way it applies to other areas - for example, here, it's in our Constitution that the parent is primarily responsible for the education of their children. This means that home schooling is not a huge issue here - home schools are subject to inspection though, to make sure the children are actually being educated. I know in some other parts of Europe, home schooling is now illegal, and children have to attend State schools, and be taught only what is on the State curriculum. I find that a worrying development.
