Laura Harmon (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are an ageing population, as has been mentioned. The population is projected to grow by 800,000 by 2040 with an extra half a million people over 65 by that point. I have been really struck in the community in Cork South Central by the older people I have met on the doors and some of their stories have stayed with me. One woman told me she has nothing to do, that everyone belonging to her has passed away and she is just waiting to die now. I meet people all the time who say they only see their grandkids on Skype as their sons and daughters could not afford to live next to them. The housing crisis is also contributing to this issue of loneliness.The ALONE organisation has said there has been an 83% increase in renters in old age and that 25% of the people they engage with do not own their own home. We are currently in the midst of a housing crisis. We cannot have a whole generation of people renting when they are pensioners - those from my generation and younger. If that is the case, we are going to have a serious ticking time bomb on our hands. It is not clear how people are going to be able to afford to live.

I also wish to raise infrastructure. Accessibility is a big thing, for example, being able in the first place to leave your home and walk to the shop or travel around your local community. I met people in Cork city who live near The Lough and have not been able to even get up to it because they have acquired disabilities or they are in wheelchairs. They cannot physically get from A to B. We must look at expanding funding for active travel so that local authorities can apply for more money for footpath repairs. I meet a lot of older people who tell me they do not want to walk on the footpath. They walk in the middle of the road, which is completely unsafe and unacceptable. We must fund more local community services, in particular mobile library services. We must also ensure we reduce energy poverty for older people. I support the calls by other Senators for a loneliness strategy in Ireland setting out how we are going to tackle this issue.