Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I support the call by Senators Mullen and Callely for an urgent debate on health provisions and services for older people. On the island of Ireland there are 1 million people over the age of 60 years. The collective ageing of the population is one of the great triumphs of our era. Most of us can look forward to being reasonably healthy in our old age. Older people are an enormous good for our society. Sadly, although ageing brings both gains and losses, ageism means old age is often represented in negative terms such as there being a health care burden and a pensions time bomb rather than in a balanced way.

I totally concur with Senator Mullen. Service provision is often poor, not only in cases of illness. There is free screening for breast cancer up to the age of 64 years, whereupon it stops, although women are seven times more likely to develop breast cancer after 65. For other age-related illnesses such as stroke and dementia, service provision lags considerably behind that provided in the treatment of cancer or cardiac disease. Dementia and stroke are illnesses that hit older people, yet service provision is appallingly poor. As Fianna Fáil spokesperson on older people, I totally support the call for a serious discussion on health provision for this section of the population. I am also delighted that the old age pension was left as it was.