Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion and, in particular, the amendment to it in the name of Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett. I compliment the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament on the huge protest it held outside Leinster House today. Thousands of people from throughout the country gathered outside the House. I say "well done" to Mairead Hayes, a native of Clonmel, who is a very senior person in the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament, and I thank all those from Tipperary who came to Dublin by bus, train and car to support the elderly today.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, said there was a lot of misinformation. Indeed there is, but it has been put out by the Labour Party and Fine Gael. The Tánaiste was at it again today when he insulted the intelligence of elderly people by suggesting they had been untouched by austerity. If I were charitable, I would call it spin, but if I were less charitable, it could only be described as a three letter word which starts with "l" and finishes with "e".

The record of this Government in regard to elderly people is as follows. The Government was hardly a wet week in office when in July 2011, the Minister for Social Protection cut the electricity allowance from 2,400 units to 1,800 units. The 2012 budget cut six weeks from the fuel allowance. The 2013 budget reduced the household benefits package and the electricity and telephone allowances, and it introduced a carbon tax. The fair deal scheme thresholds were increased in that budget in that the 15% of the value of the house was increased to 22.5%. The respite care grant was cut as were home help hours. Some 40,000 medical cards for elderly people were targeted, and that was before this budget. We have seen the various changes affecting elderly people and the attacks on them in this budget.

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