Age Action is a charity which promotes positive ageing and better policies and services for older people.
As part of our remit, we regularly advocate with and on behalf of older people. This includes taking part in a variety of consultation processes.
Listed below are some of our recent submissions to government departments and key stakeholders.
The Government's Budget 2020 choices did not include measures to address the inequalities faced by older people living in Ireland who are family members and contributors to our communities. Budget 2020 did not offer the majority of older people the support they need to meet the rising cost of living that is anticipated by the impacts of Brexit and it did not offer a concrete plan to support us to age in place.
Equality for older people requires the re-distribution of resources; power and influence; status and standing; and respect. While the Government has increased some secondary benefits with the view to targeting people in the most vulnerable situations, which is a sensible approach, it has to be acknowledged that if people had adequate income to meet the true cost of ageing, they would be able to have choice over how to spend their money to best meet their specific needs.
The net affect of Budget 2020 on the income of older person headed households is;
Some people who are over 80 are people in the most vulnerable situations in our society with no capacity to increase their income while dealing with the increasing cost of ageing. A person over 80, not living alone, received €1.08 per week to cope with Brexit, the carbon tax increase and the rising cost of living in 2020. It is on the backs of these people that our economy has been built: these are the same women and men who lived through the Marriage Bar, shouldered several recessions and are now dealing with the accumulated disadvantages. In working for equality, it is critical that we focus on equality of outcomes not just equality of opportunity.
Maureen Cullinane is 72 but instead of taking it easy, the Cork woman is learning the Irish language, making radio documentaries, hating housework and channelling her inner Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg to train her peers as part of Age Action’s Getting Started computer training. She writes about her experiences for the Age Action blog.
Copyright 2019
