News
Vicky Phelan – Action. Change. Accountability.
In 2008, the national cervical screening programme Cervical Check was established as a means to reduce the incidences of cervical cancer among women aged 25-60.
In 2017, Vicky Phelan is sitting in her consultant’s waiting room skimming over her medical record out of plain boredom. It is here she makes the cataclysmic discovery that sets in motion, a chain of events that will change the world for women across Ireland and abroad. Here lie the undisclosed audit results of an internal inquiry into the cervical programme and evidence of her inaccurate smear result from 2011. She had now been given a terminal diagnosis, realising that this might have been prevented if the original test had been read accurately.
She was unable to remain idle with the knowledge of this injustice and secrecy which has led to the preventable deaths of so many women. In 2018, Vicky battled the HSE and Quest Laboratories in the High Court. The case was settled but Vicky refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement ensuring that this information becomes available to the public. Her courageous decision not to stay silent unleashed a rollercoaster of events bringing national attention to the grave errors committed by the HSE and the Cervical Check programme.
At our Annual Parliament Meeting in November, we paid tribute to Vicky by substituting a minute’s silence for an emotional minute’s applause as a tribute to Vicky’s refusing to stay silent for herself and the women of Ireland.
She will be sadly missed by all but in particular her loving family. Our thoughts are with Vicky’s family, friends and all of the women she has and will continue to help.
Low Paid Older Workers Report 2022
On Friday 25th November, we attended the report launch of “Low Paid Older Workers: A quantitative and qualitative profile of low pay among workers aged over 50”. This research report, spearheaded by Dr. Micheál L. Collins and Dr. Catherine Elliot O’ Dare, examines the historically underexplored group of older workers in low pay. It brings together themes of ageing populations, labour market earnings and living conditions.
Dr. Collins presented some of the key findings which are briefly outlined below:
- 1 in 6 workers aged 50+ are in low paid jobs
- Older workers make up one fifth of the total low paid population
- Inadequacy of pension income influenced older workers to take-up or remain-in low paid jobs
- Older workers are more likely to work less than 20 hours per week or on a part-time basis
- Older workers are more likely to be working in administration and health/caring roles
- Older workers generally have lower levels of completed education, tend to hold permanent positions or work in smaller firms
- Low paid older workers are more likely to live in 1 or 2 Adult households and own the property they live in (Approx. 55%).
- The participants in this study perceived their pay as inadequate.
Dr. O’ Dare mentioned that participants portrayed the attitude of low-income jobs as being a better option than receiving a low-rate pension. She explored the precariousness of caring work which has been seen to affect a larger number of women thus further enshrining a gender division in this area. She noted that older low pay workers tend to remain as such due to their level of skill or lack of opportunity to develop new skills in order to progress.
Dr. Nat O’Connor from Age Action offered some stark figures around this particular age cohort, highlighting that 1 in 4 people in Ireland are aged 60 or over. He brought attention to the severe lack of data on the 50 to 64 age group and recommended that the Central Statistics Office consider this age bracket as over half a million workers in Ireland are aged 55+. Furthermore, older adults are more likely to be in long-term unemployment due to a lack of opportunities, ageist employers and the mandatory retirement age also being a factor.
Dr. Anne-Marie McGauran from the National Economic and Social Council offered some possible solutions to address the “Sticky State” or people stuck in low pay jobs. Improving educational attainment overall, would improve opportunities for low-paid workers. She questioned whether or not we could find a way of recognising life-skills or other valuable contributions of the older worker in order to qualify for a specific job. There needs to be a means to facilitate and reshape the care sector while recognising hidden care work. She also suggested that Ireland should look at creating schemes or opportunities for part-time work or job-sharing, for retirees or people nearing retirement.
For more information, you can access the full report by clicking here.
ISCP Christmas Raffle 2022
We had a wonderful day selling raffle tickets in the Omni Shopping Centre in Santry on Friday 25th November. We received fantastic support from shoppers and passers-by while getting the opportunity to talk about some of the work that we do. We exchanged stories and laughs with the locals and welcomed all kinds of amazing support on the day.
A huge thank you to our colleague Grace for organising every aspect of the raffle, from printing and posting tickets to bagging incredible prizes. This is only a fraction of the hard work that Grace carries out behind the scenes in the ISCP. We also want to thank all of our members and the volunteers who have been helping us to sell tickets over the last few weeks.
A reminder to our members to please return the ticket stubs before the 19th December along with any money raised. This ensures that everybody will get a chance to be in the final draw on 20th December to win one of our top prizes.
Please feel free to get in touch if you would like any tickets for our raffle on 085 2604957 or by emailing office@seniors.ie
Our next day out selling raffle tickets will be in Donaghmede Shopping Centre on Friday 16th December from 9.30am to 6pm. Keep an eye out for some of our dedicated members taking time out to support the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament.
A new Civic Forum: Co-creating a shared future
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, and Minister of State, Joe O’Brien, have opened a new Civic Forum for dialogue between the Community and Voluntary Sector and the State.
The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament were pleased to participate in this key event bringing together community activists from local regional and national level.
The Civic Forum is designed to fulfil government commitments to strengthen social dialogue and progress civic participation. Participants will hear examples of this from an international and national perspective and will share their own perspectives on promoting greater participation in public policy making.
At this first such event the attendees will shape the role that the Civic Forum can play and the contribution that it can make to creating better public policy.
Addressing delegates at the launch of the Civic Forum at the Aviva Stadium, the Taoiseach highlighted the essential role played by the community and voluntary sector in Irish society.
This model of engagement with the community and voluntary sector, is in line with the five-year strategy; “Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities”. The model will be led by the Department of Rural and Community Development and will support open dialogue and increase collaboration with the sector.
> First national dialogue forum explores how to strengthen public participation in policy making
> 130 delegates from community and voluntary and state sectors attend event at the Aviva Stadium
> A new model of engagement will bolster dialogue and further engage community representatives
The Civic Forum is designed to fulfil government commitments to strengthen social dialogue and progress civic participation. Participants will hear examples of this from an international and national perspective and will share their own perspectives on promoting greater participation in public policy making.
At this first such event the attendees will shape the role that the Civic Forum can play and the contribution that it can make to creating better public policy.
At the launch of the Civic Forum at the Aviva Stadium, the Taoiseach highlighted the essential role played by the community and voluntary sector in Irish society.
Inputs from the Community Platform, County Councils, The Wheel, Partnership Companies and OECD contributed to the thinking on the day and informed the discussion groups.