Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government specifically mentions older people, and the Government has a Minister with responsibility for older people. I note he will have an examination of the issue of increasing the pension age. Our older citizens have made this country what it is and they have been severely punished with the lockdown. Even worse, they have been excluded from any source of payment. They were not looking for much. All they looked for many times was perhaps the difference between their pension and the €350 payment. They have been badly let down by the previous Government and I hope that the Taoiseach will rectify that because those people suffered as much if not more than most during the lockdown. They were locked away from their families and loved ones. Some of them were sick. There needs to be specific support for them, and pious platitudes in the programme for Government will not do it for them. They need to be recognised for the part they played in the development of our country and the part they continue to play in rearing and supporting their families and their grandchildren, and in supporting their communities. They need to be supported. It is a shame that the Covid pandemic payment, or even a portion of it, is not being paid to them.

See this speech in context