Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

An in-depth TILDA - The Irish LongituDinal Study on Ageing - report published recently showed there is currently a crisis among older people in the State. Physical activity by older people during Covid is at 22% lower than it should be. Loneliness is a significant issue as well and the figures indicate there is double the level of loneliness that existed before the crisis. Loneliness is a threat to physical and mental health and, for example, 21% of older adults say they are currently suffering from depression, a figure that is double what it was before Covid. Nearly one third of older people say they are suffering from increased levels of stress.

One third of older adults said that they either delayed medical care or that medical care was delayed for them. These are heartbreaking and shocking figures. By any measure these figures are a disaster and they are mostly invisible to society. What is the Government doing to mitigate that?

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