News

Silent Protest on Christmas Bonus

By Grace | 18th May 2009

The Irish Senior Citizens’ Parliament is organising a small Silent Protest outside Dáil Éireann on Thursday, 21st May 2009, from 1.15 – 2.20pm, as part of our campaign to have the Christmas Bonus re-instated.

The Protest will coincide with our two Meetings (morning and afternoon) in the European Parliament Office that day on the theme Communicating Europe / European Elections.

Older People have become totally dependent on this extra payment in the dead of winter to help with their fuel, heating and lighting bills.

Hypothermia is a major difficulty for Older People, causing a number of deaths each year. Whilst this payment is termed a “bonus” the fact is that Older People are reliant on this additional payment to help with these additional winter costs.

We are appealing, in particular, to our Dublin affiliates for their support for our Campaign, the importance of which cannot be underestimated in the lives of Older People.

Public meetings on elder abuse & elections

By Grace | 13th May 2009

In the run-up to the European & Local elections, the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament is organising a series of meetings around the country.

The meetings’ topics will centre around three main themes all of which are of paramount importance to Older People:

  • Elder Abuse
  • Communicating Europe & the European Elections
  • Local Elections

The meetings will be in the following locations:

  • North West Constituency: There are two meetings, one inthe Salthill Hotel, Galway on 13th May 2009 at 1.30pm. The other is in the Plougastel Court Centre, Westport on 14thMay 2009  at 11.30am.
  • South Constituency: There are three meetings, one in the Best Western Pery’s Hotel, Limerick on 19th May 2009. There were 2 others in Cork on May 11.
  • East Constituency: Meeting in Dundalk on 20th May 2009 in the Carroll Mead Hall at 2.00pm.
  • Dublin Constituency: There are two meetings in Dublin on 21st May 2009, a morning meeting at 11.30am and an afternoon meeting at 2.oopm. Both will be in the European Parliament Office, Molesworth Street

We will produce an Election Manifesto which will be sent to all candidates and Political Parties outlining the needs of Older People.

It is important at this critical time for Older People that we have a large turnout and, therefore, we ask that you would encourage your friends to come along.

Please notify dorlores@seniors.ie regarding the EU meeting/s you would like to attend.

Local Elections

At each meeting time will be allocated for Local Election candidates standing in Galway City, Westport, Dundalk and Limerick City Electoral Areas.

Cork Elder Abuse workshop

There were 20 members of the division present at the Cork workshop. What was interesting to note about this meeting was that for many of the Older People present they were unfamiliar with the term elder abuse and were very interested in the idea. The discussion included a run through of what was considered Elder Abuse and members of the group felt very enthused that this was an issue they wanted to create awareness on, as a result they made a note to include a section in their newsletter on this topic.

An information pack was distributed to the group by the senior case social worker present. This information included the contact information for the Elder Abuse social workers in the area along with information on how to spot the signs of Elder Abuse.

Galway European and Local Election Meeting

By Grace | 13th May 2009

The Irish Senior Citizens’ Parliament’s Galway meeting with European and Local Election candidates took place on 13 May 2009 in the Salthill Hotel. Candidates from the North-West Euro Constituency and Galway local electoral areas were invited.

The meeting was attended by two European Candidates: Marian Harkin MEP (Independent) and Fiachra Ó Luain (Independent). Mary Thornton was also present representing Declan Ganley (Libertas).

The day began with a presentation on Elder Abuse by Susan Rodden, HSE Senior Case Worker (Elder Abuse) in Galway. The group was drawn to the fact that 85% of people who are abused are living in their own homes, 45% of abusers are family members the majority of whom are sons or daughters and in 62% of cases the Older Person is living with their abuser.

The presentation was followed by a lively discussion and a question and answer session.

Marian Harkin MEP spoke about pensions (outlining her work in this area), rural transport & the removal of the Community Support Scheme.

Fiachra Ó Luain spoke about how both the younger & older generations had been “robbed by the Government”.

Mary Thornton (on behalf of Declan Ganley) spoke about medical cards, childrens’ allowances & that women should be enabled to be at home with their children.

The meeting was joined by 5 local candidates Cllr. Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party), Tom Hanly (Sinn Féin), AJ Cahill (Independent), Sheila Mangan (Fianna Fáil), and Cllr. Catherine Connolly (Independent).

The meeting provided an opportunity to engage with the candidates on issues that affect the elderly. Topics covered included: the provision of community facilities & involvement, isolation of older people, water quality, the removal of the medical cards from over-70s, the removal of the Christmas bonus & widows pensions.

The Galway meeting was chaired by Evelyn Moran, Honorary Secretary of the ISCP. It was attended by a large group of representatives from local Senior Citizen groups, Active Retirement groups and volunteers from the Senior Help Line. Máiréad Hayes, the Parliament’s CEO, and Lauren Quinn Taylor, the ISCP Policy officer also attended.

Michael McNamara attended the meeting in Westport the next day. Apologies were received from Jim Higgins MEP, Susan O’Keefe, Pat the Cope Gallagher TD and Paschal Mooney.

 

Fergus Finlay on Community Support for Older People

By Grace | 5th May 2009

Fergus Finlay speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime 22/04/2009

I met the Senior Citizens’ Parliament last Friday at their Annual Conference in Dublin. They are an impressive and determined group of people who have two aims, to be a strong voice representing Older People and their needs and to promote inter-generational solidarity.

Although God knows I am not far off being qualified to be a member of the Parliament, I was there because my day job involves supporting children and I wanted to suggest that at times like this all the generations should be working together.

What I found when I met the Parliament was a group of very angry people, they are still angry about last years Medical Card fiasco and determined it won’t happen again and they are equally angry about the decision in the Budget of a fortnight ago to deprive pensioners of the now well established Christmas bonus.

Their President, Sylvia Meehan, made the point passionately at the conference that this latest cut would mean that a lot of Irish pensioners, especially those who live alone will be colder and hungrier this year.

But when you speak to the Parliament member’s individually one thing becomes very clear, these are the people who never want to be a drain on the State. They are proud of the contribution they have made over their lifetime, raising families, holding down jobs, paying their taxes, involving themselves in all sorts of community activities. They have been through all the hardships of the past and they have paid their dues, what they want now and what they deserve is to be treated with respect.

There is one other thing that the members of that generation all have in common: ‘independence’, they are still more than prepared to carry their share of the burden and more than prepared to look after themselves and indeed in the times that we live in many of the Grandparents all are still contributing to the economy by enabling their children to participate.

An awful lot of homes have been bought in Ireland in recent years with the hard earned help of grandparents and an awful lot of parents have been able to stay at work because grandparents are willing to help with the child minding and by and large they are proud to do it. So wouldn’t you think our government would think twice about undermining the independence of that generation that has done so much to make us what we are today.

Well think again a fortnight ago on April 6th the Government announced the latest plan of investment in the scheme of Community Support for Older People. This is a scheme whose purpose is to enable the provision of socially monitored alarm systems, what we sometimes call panic buttons and small items of security equipment such as sensor lighting, window and door locks, door chains, smoke alarms. It’s a small enough scheme around 10 thousand elderly people are benefiting every year but in terms of the added security it gives people and as way of promoting continued independence, it gives a fantastic return on the €3 – 4 million of investment made each year. And by the way the investment creates and sustains Irish jobs, since one of the largest suppliers of the emergency response equipment involved is based in Enniscorthy.

When he announced his latest plans under the scheme Minister for State John Curran thanked the Voluntary and Community groups involved. Their efforts he said greatly improved the security and support offered to Older People throughout the country. The following day April 7th the Minister announced that he was suspending the operation of the scheme; April 7th of course was Budget Day.

One of the hidden cuts in that budget was a €15 million reduction in what the Department of Finance called ‘Supports for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Local and Community Development Programmes’. So, this is a scheme which costs nothing to administer because it is done on a voluntary basis. A tiny amount of grants goes directly towards protecting security and independence.

It is a scheme which enables people to live at home, who otherwise might have to spend their later years in a Nursing Home often at an enormous cost to the State. In other words it is a scheme that actually saves the State a lot of money as well as promoting independence and dignity and it has been done away with, at least for now. It’s hard to imagine anything more short sighted isn’t it. The old saying ‘Spoiling the ship for a ha’pworth of tar’, comes to mind but it’s actually worse than that.

Cuts like this designed to save a tiny amount of money and the cost of inflicting real social damage suggests a lack of basic care. If they have any sense, this is one cut they’ll start to undo.