John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Senator Mark MacSharry on the introduction of his discussion document on suicide awareness. I have consistently said here that I do not think we are doing enough to tackle the issue of suicide. I said recently that we needed to set up a single authority to deal with the issue suicide alone, to be headed by somebody such as Mr. Noel Brett. He was head of the Road Safety Authority, on which he did great work in reducing the numbers of road deaths dramatically. That is what we need to do with regard to the incidence of suicide.

I also support Senator Marie Moloney on the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant. The reason we are in the position we are in is that it was found unconstitutional to deprive people over the age of 66 years of the mobility allowance. If we had to pay it to everybody over the age of 66 years, it would cost us too much money. Therefore, the decision was made to scrap it and the motorised transport grant. I was a community welfare officer for 28 years when I dealt with these two schemes which were a lifeline for many, particularly people living in rural and isolated areas. Without the motorised transport grant, many would not be able to connect with their local villages and towns. The purpose of the grant was also to facilitate people in getting to work. I know plenty of people who need a car to travel 40 miles or so to work. There is no alternative scheme that can provide transport for both the elderly and those living in isolated rural areas. We cannot expect elderly people to act like robots and take a bus provided at a particular time every day if they need to go to town to do their shopping. That simply does not happen in rural Ireland. The only way we can deal with this issue is to ensure they receive the money into their hands and have the freedom to come and go as they please. This issue requires to be debated. I agree with Senator Marie Moloney that we should feed our ideas into that debate. Because of my experience, I would like to be part of that discussion.