The Government has a moral obligation to protect Ireland’s most vulnerable older people when it is deciding the content of this December’s Budget, Age Action warned today.

“The challenge facing the Government is not just one balancing expenditure against tax revenue,” Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins said. “It also has a very real obligation to protect its most vulnerable citizens, by ensuring that any changes in policy or spending do not hurt those who cannot take any more hardship.”

His comments were part of Age Action’s presentation to the pre-Budget forum, hosted by Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin, in Dublin today.

Among older people the most vulnerable include those on very low incomes, those who are struggling to heat their homes and feed themselves, people who are dependent on state services because they have an illness or disability, those living alone, and people who are isolated without adequate rural transport.

Some 62% have a chronic illness, 29% have a disability, half (50%) live on incomes in the lowest three income deciles. Almost one-third of over-85s live alone – two-thirds of these are older women, surviving on very low incomes.

“These people, who have so little, have the most to lose if their needs are ignored by those who are drawing up the budget,” Mr Timmins said.

The older people’s charity urged the Government to carefully assess the social impact of its Budget plans, and not to confine their analysis solely to the economic impact. “While we raise specific concerns like the threat to cut social welfare payments, it is the aggregate effect of all budget measures that will either hurt or protect older people,” he said.

In its presentation Age Action highlighted three of the key issues in its pre-budget submission:

The threat to cut social welfare payments by 5% and the threat to abolish the Christmas bonus. Despite significantly reducing the numbers of older people experiencing consistent poverty, we still have the fifth highest rate of at-risk-of-poverty in the EU, after Cyprus, Estonia and Latvia, Romania, and just behind Lithuania and the UK;

The devastating impact which the proposed carbon tax would have on vulnerable older people unless measures to protect them are introduced simultaneously. There must be corresponding increases in the fuel allowance to cushion the poorest older people from rising fuel prices as a result of the new tax. Revenue from the new tax must also be ring-fenced to fund home insulation programmes;

The need to protect funding for rural transport schemes, despite calls in the McCarthy report for such funding to be abolished. Only 40% of men and 15% of women aged over-80 have a driving licence. Older people are highly dependent on rural transport for essential weekly activities such as collecting their pension, attending their GP, shopping and social contact.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT EAMON TIMMINS, HEAD OF ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATIONS, AGE ACTION, 087-9682449.