News
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2021: Your Resources
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing untold fear and suffering for older people across the world. Beyond its immediate health impact, the pandemic is putting older people at greater risk of poverty, discrimination and isolation. It is likely to have a particularly devastating impact on older people in developing countries.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres
Today is Word Elder Abuse Awareness Day and over the last 18 months, as we have dealt with the impacts of Covid-19, we have seen many older people left more vulnerable than ever before.
Elder abuse can come in many forms – financial, emotional, physical to name just a few. It is important that we are all aware of what elder abuse is and what can be done to prevent and stop it.
Check out the HSE’s webpage for more details on what elder abuse is here: https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/olderpeople/elderabuse/what-is-elder-abuse-/
If you or someone you know is suffering from elder abuse, check out the HSE’s guide on how to report and check out the Garda info page for their resources.
ISCP welcomes Una Power to our team
Irish Senior Citizens Parliament is thrilled to announce a new member of its team. Una Power has joined us this week as our Head of Communications and Policy. Una will be working to deepen ISCP’s policy bank and strengthen our role in advocating for our members’ needs.
Following her degree in Politics and German at UCD, Una began her career as a Communications officer with Women for Election. Since then she has worked as a Policy and Communications Advisor to Catherine Martin TD, has been elected as a County Councillor, and was made Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council in 2020. She is currently finishing her Masters in Public Policy in UCD.
Speaking on Una’s appointment, CEO Sue Shaw said “We are excited to see our ISCP team grow and to be joined by Una Power. Una will bring a real zeal to the role and will prove a tremendous asset in building our policy base and communications profile.”
Una added “I am delighted to have joined the team and I am looking forward to meeting and working with our members. Right now I am focused on getting our Budget 2022 submission ready and look forward to putting our goals at the heart of government policy making.”
To contact Una, email: policyandcommunications@seniors.ie
Summer Series
We are delighted to announce our Summer Series Webinars, which will run over the course of the June, July and August. We will be joined by policy experts as we discuss Women and Pensions, Ageism, and Budget 2022.
Webinar 2: The Role of Language in Ageism
Date: 29-07-2021
Time: 3pm
This webinar, the second in our Summer Series, will explore the role of language in ageism – how people are affected and what we can do to combat it. We will be joined by:
- Sue Shaw, CEO, Irish Senior Citizens’ Parliament
- Paddy Connolly, CEO, Age Action
- Damien Peelo, CEO, Treoir
Following presentations from our speakers we will have a Q&A to tease out the topic further. Register for this Event
For any questions on the event, please contact Una Power at policyandcommunications@seniors.ie
Previous Webinars
Webinar 1: Women and Pensions
Our first event, Women and Pensions, took place online (zoom) on June 23rd at 3pm and explored the particular issues concerning women when they reach retirement age. Speakers at the event included Sandra McCullagh from the National Women’s Council of Ireland and Colette Bennett from Social Justice Ireland.
To watch back on this Webinar check this video:
Play Video
Webinar 2: Ageism
July 2021
Webinar 3: Budget 2022
August 2021
HSE Hack: Staying safe against fraudulent calls
As you may have seen in the news, the HSE have recently experienced cyber attacks. Private information stored on the HSE’s servers was hacked and accessed by third parties.
Reports have emerged that people are receiving scam calls from a Dublin number which are claiming to be from a hospital and detailing the patient’s medical history, date of birth and PPS number. The scam calls then ask for the person’s bank details to issue a refund.
In the event that you are contacted by anyone who is claiming to have access to your personal information and is demanding money, read the following advice:
- If you receive a phone call, hang up and do not engage. If the person tells you that they are ringing from a hospital service, you can phone your hospital afterwards but do not engage with the caller.
- Do not reply to emails, texts, or social media messages requesting information or bank details from you.
- Contact the Gardai if you have been the victim of a cyberattack.
- Never disclose your private information in a text, call, email or social media request.
For more advice on fraudulent crimes, check out: https://www.garda.ie/en/crime/fraud/