Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I applaud all those people who visited their elderly neighbours yesterday and who asked them whether they needed any groceries from the shop before the storm hit, who helped them secure their homes and who ensured they had torches or candles at hand should the power fail. These are small actions which made an enormous difference. It is unfortunate that it takes something such as a major weather warning for us to realise our neighbours may need some assistance or even reassurance in some cases.

Recently physicians and researchers examined the impact of loneliness and social isolation on health, well-being and mortality. The data are overwhelming and suggest "a lonely person is significantly more likely to suffer an early death than a non-lonely one". As a nation we are ageing and the percentage of people over 70 is growing faster than the rest of the population. Added to this is the rise in single-person households. We are beginning to see the impact of loneliness and isolation and therefore, new policy approaches are needed. Much is said about rural isolation and lack of services, which of course is true, but when I worked as a general practitioner in Finglas, the exact same issues of loneliness and isolation existed in the heart of a busy community.

I recommend that Senators consider the Campaign to End Loneliness in the UK. It is a powerful and evocative campaign that really makes one think about the human consequence of loneliness and isolation. This highlights the need to look out for our neighbours not just during a storm, but every day.

The political scientist Robert Putnam wrote an excellent book called Bowling Alonein which he warned that our stock of social capital, that is, the very fabric of our connections with one other, has plummeted recently, damaging all our lives and communities. We need an urgent debate on the issue of loneliness and how it has an impact upon the more senior members of our society both in rural and city settings.