ALONE Urges More Action Supporting Ireland’s Ageing Population
ALONE, the organisation which aids and supports older people across the country, helping them to age at home, has called for a new government programme to be set up for our ageing population. Speaking about the work done by ALONE and their requests to the incoming government CEO Seán Moynihan said: “We here at ALONE are working with older people nationwide on a daily basis, we’re listening, engaging and basing our asks on that evidence. All our research, all our expertise, our direct conduit into the needs of older people living alone, are available to the incoming government.”
“Now is the time to listen to those voices and to listen to those needs. We know what the trends of the future look like, let’s start shaping that future while we have the chance, the knowledge, and the resources to do it,”
The organisation has proposed the introduction of a plan containing seven elements which should be developed in order to address the issues facing older people in this country. These are:
| 1.A Commissioner for Older People to work across Government to ensure implemented policies support older people |
| 2.Benchmark the State Pension and other benefits to ensure older people’s sources of income are in line with the rise in the cost of living |
| 3.A fully funded strategy to fight loneliness among older people across the country |
| 4.A plan for the broad housing needs of older people |
| 5. Implementation of measures to reduce energy poverty among older people |
| 6.Better access to and funding for community health and social services |
| 7.Legislation to protect all sections of the population against abuse |
On the reaction from TD’s and the government to these proposals, Seán Moynihan said: “We’ve had some very positive soundings across all parties, and we’re very hopeful that these pragmatic measures will make it into the Programme for Government, and that they’ll inform the terms of debate—on both government and opposition benches—throughout the lifetime of this Dáil. If we do not intervene now older people will pay a high price now and in the years to come.”
