SPEAKING as special guest at the annual conference in Dublin’s Liberty Hall this week of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament (ISCP) representing tens of thousands of people in over 200 organisations, author Sean Hillen from Brinaleck encouraged members to use their voting strength to lobby the government to act on their behalf.
Referring to a letter he received the day before from President Michael D. Higgins, Mr Hillen said: “Senior citizens represent one of the biggest voting blocs nationwide and the age group most likely to go to the polls.
“That grants tremendous political power over elected officials. Make them listen to your needs.
“The President is himself a senior citizen and as a former TD and Minister knows full well the power of lobbying.”
Mr Hillen added that according to latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, almost 27,000 senior citizens lived in Donegal, an increase of almost twenty per cent from the previous census.
Of these, over seven thousand lived alone.
In the two-page letter from Aras an Uachtarain which Hillen read out at the conference, President Higgins quoted figures showing Ireland’s ageing population was rising rapidly and called on those in positions of power to “foster a holistic, inclusive and compassionate approach to ageing and shape a society that supports our citizens to remain healthy, independent, and actively engaged”.
“The number of people aged 65 years and above rose by more than 40 per cent between 2013 and 2023, from 569,000 to 806,000, and is expected to double again to 1.6 million by 2051,” he said.
”Never before have so many citizens lived for so long. Never before have we too, as a society, been presented with such a powerful opportunity to benefit from the contribution of those who have lived rich and diverse lives.
”This places a profound responsibility on all of us to ensure that our ageing population is supported, included, and enabled to live with dignity, independence, and fulfilment, and to ensure that our health and social services evolve to meet the changing and diverse needs of our ageing population.”
Motions passed by the ISCP ranged from free vaccinations against shingles for those over 65 and other vulnerable people, to the abolition of property taxes on principal homes of people over 70.
“It also requested the government set state pensions at 34 percent of average industrial wage and appoint a Commissioner for Older People. Following Storm Eowyn, ISCP members also called for local authorities to introduce a stronger system to help protect senior citizens, especially in rural areas, from climate-related catastrophes.
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