2012

HOME-HELP HOURS TO BE RESTORED TO 2012 LEVELS

Responding to Minister Reilly’s announcement yesterday, Director of Older & Bolder, Patricia Conboy said, “Due to consistent democratic action by older people €3 million rather than the planned €8 million was cut from the home-help budget for 2012. While this will provide little comfort to those who, due to the €3 million cuts implemented, have lost vital home help hours we know that without concerted campaigning a further €5 million, equivalent to 300,000 hours, would have been cut.”

Older & Bolder, which champions the rights of all older people, is today standing in solidarity with the Children's Rights Alliance in calling for a strong YES vote in the Children’s Referendum on Saturday 10 November.  Both organisations seek to highlight the challenges facing children and older people in living their lives with the dignity and rights that they deserve.  Niamh Walker, a grandmother and advocate for Older & Bolder, and Megan Smith a young person from Foróige, speak personally about why they are advocating for a YES vote.

Older & Bolder are today, Thursday October 18th, at the gates of Dáil Éireann, presenting signatures to a petition to Government calling for the immediate reversal of cuts to Home Help and Home Care Packages. 

Older & Bolder has received thousands of personal postal messages from older people around the country who rely on home care services to stay living in their own homes. Most of these people are not on social media sites. 

Our letter to the Irish Times on Saturday 15th September on illogical cuts to home care services

Dear Sir,

When is a cut not a cut?

Dr. Muiris Houston has described the recent cut of €12.5 million to home care services as illogical and indicative that the Minister for Health and his officials do not understand the basic mechanics of our health service (Irish Times, September 11 2012). Why otherwise would they proceed with a cut to home care packages which will have the effect of clogging up the hospital system within weeks? This cut has not been reversed.

Uncertainty and lack of clarity continue to be the order of the day for recipients of HSE Home Care services.  Following a statement issued today on behalf of Minister for Health, James Reilly TD, there is more confusion about the status of Home Help services and Home Care packages.

Older & Bolder has requested as a matter of urgency a meeting with the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.

Older & Bolder welcomes the Tánaiste's public naming of the HSE cuts as ‘regrettable’ and we urge him to translate his misgivings into action. Older and Bolder is calling for the immediate reversal of the cuts and is looking to have an urgent meeting with the Tánaiste to this effect.

The proposed HSE cuts to home care services do not make human or economic sense. Older & Bolder is sending a strong message on air and in print that these cuts must be reversed. Scroll down to see coverage of our response - the most recent items appear first.

We’re hoping you too will play your part by contacting your local TD and telling them these savage cuts must be reversed and encouraging your friends and family to join our Make Home Work campaign.

Figures from the latest CSO research reflect the importance of Older & Bolder’s MAKE HOME WORK calls for better home and community care and also confirm the State Pension as a vital resource which most older people rely on.

90 year old Mabel Gargan, with the help of 39 year old street artist, Fink,  graffiti sprayed the message that she wants to continue to grow old at home in a super-sized display of solidarity between the generations. 

If case you missed our opinion piece in the Irish Times (13th June) here it is again.

In Older and Bolder, we meet older people all over the country who share a common message with us: “I want to grow old at home.” We hear from people who are afraid of losing limited but highly valued homecare supports.

This year's Say No To Ageism Week takes place from June 4th to 8th. It is a good time to consider the affects of ageism in our society. The week provides an opportunity to remind us of the consequences of ageism in service provision. It is a time to renew our commitment to combating ageism in society.  Older people's identities are often replaced by a negative stereotype that denies them access to full participation in society.  The theme this year is a positive affirmation: "I Say No to Ageism". So much can be achieved when a negative attitude is changed to a positive.

Older & Bolder today (18th April) called on Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton to launch a public awareness campaign to highlight radical changes to the Contributory  State pension linked to the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill commencing in the Dáil this week. 

While the changes to qualifying contributions will affect some people from as early as this year, so far the complicated changes have not been clearly highlighted to citizens.      

Older & Bolder today called on Kathleen Lynch TD, the Minister with responsibility for older people to reassure people following suggestions from the IMF that vital supports for pensioners should be cut.

“Older people are now living under the threat of cuts to vital benefits like free travel, medical cards and the State Pension after the International Monetary Fund identified   such measures,” Patricia Conboy, director of Older & Bolder said today.

An Older & Bolder report on older people’s battle with bureaucracy

The Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly today launched ‘Caught in the Web’ -  an Older & Bolder report which  shines a spotlight on the difficulties older people have in accessing vital information about access to  public services.

Home Help services will be on life support

Older & Bolder is deeply worried about health cuts and the damaging effects these will have on older people’s health and safety.

There is no doubt this country is experiencing historically difficult financial times but Older & Bolder stress that the response to this crisis must never be one of expediency and those who are most vulnerable must not be made to pay for the country’s debts.