Warning over phone allowance cut

SENIOR citizens could be placed in

“grave danger

? due to the withdrawal of the phone allowance in the budget, a Northside pensioner has warned.

The allowance of

?¬9.50 per month, which is part of the Household Benefits Package, was among a number of cuts affecting the elderly announced in Budget 2014.

Vincent Quinn (76), from Cromcastle in Coolock, who took part in the senior citizens’ protest at the Dail last Tuesday, explained that his security alarm system is attached to his phone line. He said he might have to get rid of the phone because he can’t afford it.

“I might have to give the phone up now,

? Mr Quinn told Northside People.

“This is putting me and other senior citizens like me in grave danger. My wife Elizabeth died in July and I now live on my own. I take seizures, I have heart trouble and I have high blood pressure. What happens if I need a doctor in an emergency and I can’t ring for help, and my security equipment is gone? Senior citizens relying on the phone line won’t be able to get in touch with their doctors or families.

?

Mr Quinn said the mood at the protest – attended by thousands of pensioners – was one of anger.

“The senior citizens of this country are being treated disgracefully,

? he declared.

” The Government say they are not hitting the pensions but indirectly they are because they are taking away our allowances.

?

Kathleen O’Brien, chairperson of Rush Senior Citizens and a spokesperson for the Senior Alert Scheme, which provides the alarm equipment, also warned of the impact of the phone allowance cut.

Ms O’Brien, who also attended the protest with 10 people from her area, said some of the pensioners were crying when she visited them last Thursday week (October 17), two days after the details of Budget 2014 were announced.

“It was devastating and I came home in bits,

? she told Northside People.

“One woman in a block of apartments said she’d have to get rid of the phone and another couple in Swords said the same.

?

“Senior citizens are facing a predicament because the security equipment is connected to the phone line. This is a critical issue. It’s possible that the equipment could be connected to a mobile phone but that would cost around e200 a month and senior citizens wouldn’t be able to afford that sort of money.

?

Both Mr Quinn and Ms O’Brien also hit out at the other cuts, including the increased charge on prescriptions, and are calling on the Government to do a u-turn on the budget cuts affecting senior citizens.

Eamon Timmins of Age Action warned that the abolition of the phone allowance would hit those who are most dependent on it to remain in contact with neighbours and friends – the house-bound, those living alone and those in remote areas.

“This payment was recognition that older people’s needs were different from other sections of society and that the phone played a greater role in keeping older people well,

? Mr Timmins said.

“It is frustrating that the Government does not recognise this.

?

Mr Timmins pointed out that older persons were struggling to make ends meet as a result of the cumulative impact of a succession of austerity budgets.

“Many are part of a generation that did not spend money it did not have,

? he added.

“Our concern in the wake of the budget is that the most vulnerable of older people may now be left facing even more difficult choices with dwindling incomes as a result of the budget changes.

?