Ms Mary Murphy:

I wish to come through on the point about the accessibility of services and the ability for people to sit down in front of somebody based in the community to talk about the options available to them. The loss of that is felt very strongly by older persons and there is a strong sense that has been on the decline since Covid. Things were shut down and were never opened up again. They do not know who to go to or who can help them. I appreciate the Deputy’s point that the complexity of these systems leads to them being more stigmatising and this is another example. People do not know where to go, what is available to them or what they are entitled to and it leads to a situation where they are not getting the full supports they are entitled to. There is not a sense of entitlement and that getting these payments and supports is a normal part of being a member of society. For older persons who have been working for most of their adult lives and have not been in contact with the welfare system before who are now being told they can go for the additional needs payment, there can be a real sense of that being a threat to their identity or sense of self. They do not want to be the kind of person who accesses payments like that. That will continue if we do not simplify the system and if we do not make the system more visible and accessible. The means-testing will certainly play a part in that. What people are entitled to, what the State is willing to give them and what the State feels they have a right to needs to be made more well understood.