Age Matters June 2010 - CARDI

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4 ageingmatters june 2010n Age Actionhighlighted concernsabout the possiblemeans testing of theContributory StatePension at a meetingof the LemassForum at LeinsterHouse.Pension means test deniedSocial ProtectionMinister ÉamonÓ Cuív ended twoweeks of fear amongState Pensioners onMay 27 when he confirmedto Age Actionthat the Governmentdid not intend to meanstest the ContributoryState Pension.Speculation had begun afortnight previously whenthe same minister, in interviewson Newstalk and RTE,questioned if it was rightthat pensioners on highincomes should receive aContributory Pension justbecause they had paid sufficientstamps. He repeatedthese comments in a numberof newspaper interviews.Age Action responded bywarning that this would bea cut too far for pensionerswho had already been hitby prescription charges, theintroduction of the CarbonTax (without the promisedcompensation payments),the reduction in dental servicescovered by the MedicalCard and the threat of furthercuts to the home helpservice.Our information lines werekept busy fielding calls fromconcerned pensioners, worriedabout how they wouldget by if their ContributoryPension was hit. Anxietywas fuelled by the questionmark that had been placedover a key element of theirfinancial resources, withoutany details of what theGovernment was planning.Age Action was invited toaddress the Lemass Forum– an organisation of FiannaFail TDs and Senators– on May 26. The threatto the Contributory StatePension was high on thelist of issues we raised. Wepointed out that more thanhalf of Irish State Pensionerswere solely dependent onthe State Pension and that2008 CSO figures showedless than 6% of people agedover 65 had weekly incomesof more than €770 a week.The next day at a meetingof representative organisations,Age Action had justbegun to repeat its pointswhen the Minister intervenedto say that meanstesting was never consideredby him. We urged himto make a public statementto put pensioners’ minds atease. The next morning hegave an interview to RTE’sMorning Ireland show clarifyingthe situation.However, just two dayslater media reports suggestedthat pensioners earninghigh private sector salariesmay lose their PRSI andhealth levy exemptions inthe December budget.— Eamon Timmins
june 2010 ageingmatters 5n Senator DavidNorris and AgeAction’s BethNunan with someof the Big Knithats for innocent.Photo: Mark Stedman/Photocall IrelandFundraising eventsKnit caps to keep out the coldAre you handy with theknitting needles? ThenAge Action desperatelyneeds your help with itscampaign to keep olderpeople warm this winter.The innocent Big Knit aims toget 80,000 little woolly hatsknitted by the public betweennow and September. Thesehats will then be modeled by80,000 little bottles of innocentfruit smoothies and soldin shops nationwide from midSeptember to early Octoberto raise €20,000 for AgeAction.“It is a huge challenge, andwe are asking our membersand supporters to knit and toorganise knitting groups, knittingcircles and knitting coffeemornings to help us,” AgeAction chief executive RobinWebster said. A how-to-knitvideo and knitting patternscan be found on www.innocentdrinks.ie/thebigknit.Funds raised will help AgeAction’s work to cut the winterdeath rate among olderpeople in Ireland. “We haveup to 2,000 excess winterdeaths in Ireland each year,”Mr Webster said. “Manyof these are older people.Most do not die from hypothermiabut from cardiovascularand respiratory illness– cold-related conditions.The funds from the innocentBig Knit will go towardsour annual winter warmtheducation campaign, whichinforms people how theycan stay well, warm andhealthy in their homes.”Age Action is studyingfuel poverty, in conjunctionwith the Dublin Institute ofTechnology, the Institute ofPublic Health and UlsterUniversity. We are also workingwith the Department ofEnergy Communicationsand Natural Resources andthe Department of SocialProtection to target resourcesto cut the winter deathrate.Senator Norris added: “Ithink even a knitting novicelike me could produce atleast one of these smallhats between now and midSeptember! So people ofIreland, I urge you to doyour bit for Age Action’sexcellent work and supportthe innocent Big Knit.”Ali Gibbons of innocentsaid: “Dust off those knittingneedles, find a ball of yourfavourite wool and cast onto help make this year’s BigKnit the biggest ever!”Hats should be sent to AliGibbons, innocent, FruitTowers, 120 Lower Baggot St,Dublin 2 before September 10.
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Age Matters June 2010 - CARDI

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