Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey. I know he will give the same commitment to ageism as he gave to the Disability Act. He made a great contribution by introducing that very difficult legislation, which has meant so much to so many people. He earned great regard for his work in that area and this is another area to which he can direct his talents.

I commend the Senators who have spoken. Senator Maurice Hayes is an inspiration in the work he is doing as chairman of the National Forum on Europe, which holds its fifth anniversary next week, and all his other involvement in public life. It was a wonderful choice by the Taoiseach to reappoint him to the Seanad.

Senator White's work in this area is highly commendable. She has made an enormous contribution to public life by the work she has put into assisting older people and addressing ageism. The Minister of State should consider legislation and given that the Department is very busy I am sure that Senator White would be delighted to bring some of it through Private Members' time here. Some of the legislation should be straightforward and could be of great benefit.

I have domestic support on the issue of ageism. My wife, Mary, who happens to be in the Visitors Gallery today, is carrying out a postgraduate thesis on ageing and ageism, with particular emphasis on women and how it affects them. It gives me an extra insight into the issue, along with the work that Senator White is doing and the seminars she is holding.

Ageing is currently perceived as a problem rather than a resource. Although older people have a wealth of life experience, knowledge and wisdom, ageing is generally regarded negatively. Ageist attitudes have a negative impact on older people's lives at a practical level and are highly visible at a policy level with insurance and medical providers, and even at a State and semi-State level, where there should be no discrimination on age grounds. I was very pleased by the very positive comments of the Minister of State in this regard.

The health insurance provider, BUPA Ireland, has challenged the risk equalisation policy on the basis of costs. VHI which operates a policy of risk equalisation discriminates against people over 65 who seek travel insurance, which costs €49 per annum for those aged under 65 and costs €149 for those aged 65 and older. This threefold increase in costs is a grossly unfair form of discrimination. Many insurance companies refuse to quote for people aged over 65 or 70. The Minister of State referred to a successful case against an insurance company taken to the Equality Authority.

The breast cancer screening programme for women aged between 50 and 64 is not yet available on a nationwide basis. While it is being rolled out, it is happening much more slowly than we would have anticipated and is costing lives. This important screening service should not stop at the age of 64. Older women are the ones most prone to breast cancer. Stopping screening at the age of 64 suggests that women older than that age do not matter. I cannot see how this is allowed to continue. I am sure that Senator White has made this point strongly to the Department of Health and Children. Perhaps she should submit it as a matter to be taken on the Adjournment. There are no grounds for this discrimination. Specialist treatments should be prioritised on the basis of need and not age.

Only approximately 5% of older people require long-term institutional nursing home care. More older people are long-term residents, owing to inadequate community and home-based services. Once in institutional care elderly people are disempowered. They have no say in decision making for themselves. Considerable additional effort could be made in this area. For instance, older people in public nursing homes have no involvement in the management of the institution. There is no reason a consultative process could not be introduced into such institutions by the Department of Health and Children, allowing people to have a say in the services being provided. They are totally powerless. I have brought this to the attention of the new management in the Sacred Heart Hospital in Roscommon and I hope it will allow older people to have more of a say. For example, there are currently no shopping facilities and residents are not given the opportunity to play a role. That issue could easily be resolved but, as the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, is aware from his involvement with the Western Health Board, it is hard to foster change.

Recognition should be given to the wisdom and knowledge of older people. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, was wise to appoint a man of vast experience, Mr. Gay Byrne, as chairman of the Road Safety Authority and I commend my colleague, Senator Quinn, on his decision to actively recruit older people to work in Superquinn. Most other multinationals have since followed the Senator's example because older people are reliable and they enjoy the opportunity of playing an important role in the community. However, like many others, I was saddened to learn about the involuntary retirement of my favourite late night broadcaster, Mr. Val Joyce. Despite the fact that he was providing a great service, RTE decided to make him redundant because of his age. I regard that as a form of ageism.

Ageism is different from any other form of discrimination. Racists are unlikely to become members of the race they dislike but we will all grow older. Therefore, by being ageist, we discriminate against ourselves in the longer term. A nationwide information campaign would be worthwhile in terms of passing knowledge on the issue to younger people.

The efforts Senator White put into preparing her report brings credit to Seanad Éireann. If a commission was paid for the report, I do not think the Senator's imaginative proposals would be equalled. I hope each of her recommendations will be adopted by the Government. The report should be analysed by the Minister of State and his officials with a view to taking immediate steps on its recommendations, through legislation if necessary. It would be more convenient if the Minister of State rather than Senator White introduced such legislation because of the difficulty in finding time in Private Members' Business.

I thank the Leader, Senator O'Rourke, for allowing time for this debate, which allows us to concentrate our minds on the issue and to keep it before the public. We will not receive much media attention because the media themselves are sometimes discriminatory with regard to age, but the Minister of State may come up with new initiatives as a result of today's debate.

I was nominated to the Seanad by the Garda Representative Association, the members of which suffer discrimination because of the requirement that gardaí retire when they reach the age of 57. Even the most qualified and brilliant garda cannot remain on the force beyond that age. However, new reserve recruits, of whom I am not in favour, do not seem to face any such age barrier. Why not allow trained and qualified gardaí to serve until they reach a suitable age? The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is discriminating against 12,000 young men and women in this country because of this retirement age. If the Minister of State dispensed with the requirement, he would easily ensure that the target of 14,000 gardaí is met by the end of the Government's term in office.

Older people are potentially the most influential voters in our democracy but they do not use the power they have to bring about change. It is to be hoped that the meetings being organised by Senator White will empower people to lobby legislators on making ageism illegal.