The Caring Side of Government
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By h.b. - Nov 4, 2007 - 10:36 PM
The Government's provisions for the new Dependency Law have been outstreched by the demand

EDITORIAL COMMENT

The passing of the new Dependency law in Spain, giving carers who look after the elderly or needy at home the right to a collect a wage, is one of the best policy ideas of this Zapatero government. It’s ground-breaking legislation and an indication of the Government’s underlined wish to better protect and help the under privileged in society.

However putting such good intentions into practice is proving a complicated process. That should come as no surprise to anyone, but one does wonder if the full implications of such a law have been thoroughly thought through.

The regional administrations have to pick up the baton on this legislation, and news came over the weekend that in Andalucía, for example, the size of the task is far greater than thought.

El País reports that the process for registration opened in April, and since then over 65,000 people have asked to be means-tested for the program in Andalucía, and that number is double what the Government was expecting.
The sheer size of the number is now likely to lead to a delay in the law being actually put into practice and the help being administered.

It’s complicated, with some of the applicants already receiving some kind of state assistance, and others not so. Three Málaga families with disabled children have started legal action in the Andalucian Supreme Court of Justice given the slowness of the procedure, having waited for some four months simply to be assessed.

An initial 392 inspectors for Andalucía were later increased by 536 and now the Junta says a further 200 are to be taken on.
Slow justice is bad justice, and in this case where the day to day lives of literally thousands of people can be changed remarkably, every effort must be made to speed up the process.

If the law is finally put successfully into practice it will be a remarkable achievement, and also an indication of the incredible progress of Spanish society over the past 30 years. But if the delays continue, those who really need help in society will suffer even more.

It will be cruel indeed to dangle a carrot of assistance, and then be unable to meet the demand.

Governments have to meet their promises. Late arrival of high speed train lines is one thing, and inconvenient for many, but helping the needy with the basic dignities of life is quite another thing altogether.

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