Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Moynihan that we have to be very careful to ensure a new digital divide does not develop in this country. Many older people did not have access to this technology when they were being educated or during their working lives. The Deputy is right to suggest that they can suddenly become isolated. The merit of the benefit programme is that it assists such people. The programme has achieved remarkable success even though the amount of money committed to it is relatively small. Its partnership with Age Action, for example, has been exceptionally successful. I have presented awards sponsored by Age Action, sometimes in partnership with a big company such as Google, to people in their 80s who cannot believe the world that has been opened up to them as a result of being able to Skype their grandchildren in Australia, perform basic transactions online or access Government services on the Internet. I believe it is a very valuable programme.

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