Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The vision for older people as set out in the social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, is to enable people to maintain their health and well-being and to live full and active lives in an independent way in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. The agreement already includes a wide range of commitments regarding older people in the area of pensions, long-term care, housing and accommodation, mobility, health services and education and employment opportunities.

These commitments, which are elaborated in the new national action plan for social inclusion 2007-16, adopt a co-ordinated approach across a range of policy areas, reflecting the complex nature of poverty and social exclusion, which is multifaceted in its causes and effects. The plan, in addition to the 12 high level goals, contains 17 targets focussed on older people.

Responsibility for the implementation of different aspects of the plan, and the commitments in Towards 2016, rest with the appropriate Minister. Access to basic services is a matter for the Minister for Health and Children, discrimination in employment will be dealt with by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment while equality issues are the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. For my part the priority is in the area of income support, and significant progress is already being made in these areas. Increases in pensions granted over successive budgets, which have been consistently higher than both inflation and wages, have made a major contribution to tackling poverty.

The future of our pensions system is a major theme in Towards 2016 with a commitment to publish a Green Paper on pensions and to develop a framework for long-term policy in this area. The Green Paper was published in October 2007 and a consultation process on its contents is drawing to a close. The Government will respond to the consultations by developing a framework for the future of pensions and it is planned to finalise this by the end of the year. The needs of older people have always been a priority for this Government and this will remain the position. I will ensure that the good progress being made on the aspects of the agreement for which the Department is responsible is maintained.

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