Elderly being “pushed out of society” due to online services says councillor

Local Fianna Fáil Councillor and general election candidate Teresa Costello feels that elderly people are being pushed out of society “far too early” due to the overdependence of online activity to access their services.

Costello highlighted that elderly people “have had their independence taken away from them to a certain extent by moving services online”.

She cited the likes of car tax, revenue access, and life insurance moving online as a barrier.

Costello said “our elderly constituents are perfectly capable of looking after their own affairs, but the increased reliability on doing these things through an online platform is taking away their independence.”

“This is an issue that the elderly in my constituency are facing. There are many people who want to go out and sort their own affairs, and for some it is their only break out of the house every week. The reliance on using online tools to access these services is causing them to rely on people that they usually wouldn’t have to rely upon.”

“Now that there is an increased emphasis to go through online platforms to sort out affairs such as car tax, life insurance, and revenue access, I feel that our elderly constituents are being pushed out of society as a result of this.”

Costello is calling for in person assistance for the elderly constituents right across her constituency, which she believes will boost their morale, and give them that sense of independence back.

“I believe we need to have somewhere within our communities where our elderly constituents know they can go and sort their affairs that I have mentioned, rather than being told to go online all the time.”

“I will engage with my party colleague, and Minister of Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler in relation to this issue.”