An Ireland for all. ... Everyone in Ireland will benefit from empowering older people and the series of ... Major stride
FEBRUARY 2016
EMPOWERING OLDER PEOPLE
An Ireland for all. BILLY KELLEHER
WILLIE O’DEA
FIANNA FÁIL SPOKESPERSON ON HEALTH
FIANNA FÁIL SPOKESPERSON ON SOCIAL PROTECTION AND SOCIAL EQUALITY
Summary Having worked hard and raised their families our older people deserve to live a full and dignified life. Welcome advances in healthcare will help older people to live longer, active lives giving us the opportunity as a country to build vibrant communities that engage people of all ages. Fianna Fáil is committed to an Independent Living Contract for older people. This means we will ensure that older people can live in their own homes for as long as possible as part of our vision for “An Ireland for All”. The Independent Living Contract involves a series of measures to enable older people to live full, independent lives. Fianna Fáil will:
Increase the State Pension by €30 to €263 Raise the Living Alone Allowance to €15 Restore Housing Adaptation Grants Abolish Prescription Charges Protect and Expand the Free Travel Scheme End Mandatory Retirement Set up a new Social Entrepreneurship Fund Provide Specific Employment Supports for over 50’s End the Anomaly in Contributory Pensions Allow More Flexible Access to Pension Funds Protect Private Pensions Impose mandatory sentences for assaults on older people Promote active living through education, sports and social club supports Facilitate specialised accommodation for older people in the heart of communities Develop a new national strategy for long term care
The measures outlined in this document, along with other measures being proposed by Fianna Fáil, will provide a significant boost for both the quality of life and the standard of living of older people over the next five years. When fully implemented a single person, living alone, whose sole income is the state pension could be better off at the end of five years by more than €2,000 annually. Example Pension increase
Value €1,560
Living alone allowance increase
€312
Abolition of prescription charges (up to €25 monthly)
€300
Water charges abolition Total
€60 €2,232
Introduction
One of the most positive aspects of the increased investment in our health services since 2000 is both the improved health of our nation and the greater life expectancy enjoyed by more and more people. Where some may see a demographic time bomb, Fianna Fáil sees an achievement to celebrate. Yes, there are challenges and planning is required for the long term but this is something we are happy to embrace. The fact is that the majority of people in Ireland who reach the age of 65 can now look forward to many more years of active and healthy life. We are committed to a suite of policies that will empower older people to enjoy full, active and independent lives for as long as possible. For us, a key focus is on enabling people to stay living in their own home until as long as possible as an integral part of their communities. This will require investment, which we estimate in the region of €300 million on annual basis, but it will be an investment that represents good value for money in the long-run. Our Independent Living Contract will give older people the opportunity to contribute in a variety of ways. They have a right to utilise their talents, knowledge and insight and as a society we have an obligation to ensure this happens. Everyone in Ireland will benefit from empowering older people and the series of measures we are outlining here will contribute greatly to this empowerment. Older people have suffered greatly under this government with cuts to vital social protection payments, medical cards, home help hours, and housing adaptation grants. They were also hit hard by the introduction of the pension levy. The measures we are proposing in this election will help undo the damage done by the current government and ensure that older people can play a full part in an Ireland for all.
Willie O’Dea TD
Billy Kelleher TD
Spokesperson on Social Protection
Spokesperson on Health
An Independent Living Contract Having worked hard and raised their families our older people deserve to live a full and dignified life. Welcome advances in healthcare will help older people to live longer, active lives. People who reach retirement age can expect to enjoy many more years of healthy active living. This presents a real opportunity for the state to support and encourage active ageing and independent living. Fianna Fáil is committed to an Independent Living Contract for our older people that will guarantee over 65’s can stay in their own home if possible or accommodate them in a safe, secure and suitable home to spend the later stages of their life in their communities. We are committed to supporting older people to live independently as long as possible.
A Minister at Cabinet Fianna Fáil believes that the time has now come whereby older people’s issues are more directly represented at Cabinet. We propose that the Minister of State for Primary and Social Care who has responsibility for the Positive Ageing Strategy attend all Cabinet meetings. We would gradually see the responsibility for age related issues leading to an Office for Older Citizens in a manner similar to the Office of Children’s Affairs in 2008-2011. As ageing issues continue to increase in significance, Fianna Fáil would envisage in the future a full Cabinet post for older people and ageing issues.
Ending Mandatory Retirement The Independent Living Contract emphasises the need to enable older people live full and engaged lives. For many this will involve continuing in the workplace as they feel fit and able to contribute. There are people above 65 who are eager to continue to make a real difference in a company or the public service. We will end the compulsory retirement of persons at the age of 65, whether in the public or private sector, and make it unlawful to require a person to retire at or above the age of 65 unless there are clearly specified grounds justifying compulsory retirement such as competence and performance. Certain defined occupations could be exempted on a rational basis.
Supporting Work People over the age of 50 face particular difficulties in getting back into the workforce following redundancy. Many feel that they are being pushed out of the workforce by ageism and prejudice against older workers. We need to start thinking creatively about how to encourage firms to hire experienced workers with specific skills. A specific mandate will be given to Intreo to positively assist those aged 50 years plus to access employment. Professional and approved recruitment companies are more knowledgeable of the range of job vacancies in the private sector best fitted to the over 50 job seekers and of the requirements of such jobs. Fianna Fáil will also direct the recruitment companies employed by Intreo to provide advice and assistance to the over 50’s in applying for jobs with payment substantially related to successful placements.
A Social Entrepreneur Fund Major strides forward in life expectancy open up new opportunities for older people to launch new careers. Having built up a wide array of skills through their lives it’s a chance to contribute to their communities and break down the barriers of isolation. However many are prevented from that by a lack of credit due to their age. We will set up a small social entrepreneur fund to give seed money to over 60’s with fresh ideas for social entrepreneurship. The aim of the fund is to support older with experience to introduce new, innovative ideas with real social impact.
State Pension Despite claims by the government that older people have been protected from cuts and tax increases, the reality is that they have been particularly hard hit by reductions in income and increases in taxes and charges. The Fuel Allowance has been cut, free electricity and gas units have been reduced, the telephone allowance has been scrapped and households have been hit with property tax and water charges. On top of these cuts a range of new stealth taxes have hit older people making it hard for them to get by from week to week. The €3 increase in Budget 2016 was insufficient. Over five budgets we will increase the state pension by €30. This would also include proportionate increases for qualified adults, where applicable.
Raising the Living Alone Allowance The Living Alone Allowance is a vital payment recognising the heavy financial burden faced by those who live alone. In order to help older people cope with the cost of living and stay in their own family home, we will increase this allowance to €15.
Abolishing Prescription Charges The government quadrupled prescription charges to €2.50. This has a disproportionate impact upon fixed income groups such as pensioners. Older people are far more likely to require substantial medicinal prescriptions and are much more vulnerable to the cumulative impact of the €2.50 charge. This diminishes their income and quality of life. We will abolish prescription charges on a phased basis.
Reducing the Drug Payment Scheme Threshold This Fine Gael and Labour government made changes to the Drug Payment Scheme that resulted in extra costs for people on numerous medications. We propose the reduction of the threshold for the drug payment scheme from €144 a month to €100 a month. This will particularly benefit older people who fall outside the income guidelines for a medical card but may be incurring significant medical expenses on a monthly basis.
Ending the Anomaly in Contributory Pensions We will examine amending the calculation method for Contributory Pensions. The system already disregards time spent working in the home since April 1994 for the purposes of calculating yearly average contributions. There is no logical reason why this cannot be backdated further. Similarly, consideration should be given to allowing actual past payments to be disregarded, thereby altering the date at which the individual is considered to have entered the permanent workforce. We believe that individuals should be allowed to disregard up to 200 pre-1994 A1 PRSI payments for the purpose of calculating their date of entry to the workforce.
More Flexible Access to Pension Funds Many people paying into defined contribution pensions schemes are often being penalised by the manner in which current legislation restricts the ways they can draw down on their fund. There is an argument that people over 55 should have the ability to cash in their pot or to withdraw the money in slices, much like withdrawing funds from a bank account.
Protect Private Pension Funds We will introduce legislation to allow for a constitutional referendum to prevent government imposing a levy on private pension funds.
Free Travel The Free Travel Scheme introduced by Fianna Fáil was a seminal moment in empowering a generation of older people. It has enabled countless pensioners to live at home by giving them the freedom to move about their communities and beyond. It directly tackles social isolation more effectively than any other measure and as a side effect boosts the domestic tourism industry. After a lifetime of service and work the Free Travel Scheme is recognition of their contribution and changed circumstances. A threat to this scheme is a threat to older people’s role in their community and to their capacity to live at home. We will fully protect the free travel pass for all pensioners and work with private and public operators to keep services open across as many routes as possible. We propose to increase the funding for the Free Travel Scheme by 10 per cent.
Tackling Loneliness and Isolation Loneliness and isolation is a growing problem for the quality of life as people grow older. As part of our Independent Living Contract we will commit to directly tackling loneliness with a new focus on supports and services for older people across education and amenities. In particular, Fianna Fáil will encourage access to facilities - public and private - to enable older people stay fit and healthy. This will include providing special recreational amenities in public parks and spaces. A specific medium term target of positive ageing and health policies should be to enable 65 year old Irish men and women enjoy 70% of their life expectancy free from any disability (healthy life years) as is the case in Sweden today. We will also encourage and facilitate all Universities, Institutes of Technologies, and further education colleges to review their curriculum, course timings and access so as to be more age friendly. In addition we will amend the Lottery Capital Grants system to allow funding of Community Centres which will help facilitate older social groups.
Mandatory Sentences for Assaults It is important that criminals who target older people are sent a strong, clear message that such assaults on older people will not be tolerated and will be severely punished. Last year we published legislation that specified a minimum prison sentence of three years for anyone convicted of assault causing serious harm to older people and threatening to kill or cause serious harm to anyone aged over 65. We will enact this bill if elected in 2016.
Specialised Accommodation Building on from the Empty Nest Initiative that facilitates older people downsizing if they choose, it is important to promote specialised accommodation for older people. Specialised accommodation will be at the heart of the community and enable older people to live independently and actively. Creating specialised units will also enable more effective care such as home help and reduce isolation. Fianna Fáil will amend the Planning and Development Act 2000 to include a provision for specialist accommodation for older people in development plans.
Housing Adaptation Grants Fianna Fáil is committed to fully re-storing the Housing Adaptation Grant to allow older people and people with disabilities to live independently in their homes. We will also set waiting time targets that will be published on-line quarterly to ensure that delays will be kept to a minimum and best practise exchanged between local authorities.
Increasing Home Care Fianna Fáil believes that the funding allocated to enable older people remain at home provides not only the best value for money but also the most caring result for them. The HSE has estimated that some 2.2 million extra hours of home help and a further 3,500 home care packages for older people are required. As part of our commitment to ensuring older people remain independent in their own home for as long as possible, we will increase home help hours and home care packages to this level. Home care package are not established in legislation; as it is an administrative scheme, there is no automatic right to a one. If part of the next government, Fianna Fáil will aim to create a statutory entitlement to a home care package.
Residential Care and the Fair Deal While Fianna Fáil recognises that the majority of older people want to remain in their home and to be cared for in that setting, there will always be a proportion that will require long-term care. In 2012, the National Economic and Social Council recommended the establishment of a problem-solving group to examine and address the challenges associated with the provision of quality care in an equitable and sustainable way. Fianna Fáil will commit to the development of a national strategy for the long term care of our older people. This will include an analysis of current and future arrangements for the funding and financing of this care.
€m
Costs State Pension Increase
Social Entrepreneur Fund Free Travel Increase
€927.6
1
€5.0
2
€8.0
3
Housing Adaptation Grants
€25.5
4
Raising the Living Alone Allowance Abolishing Prescription Charges
Reduce Drug Payment Scheme Threshold Increasing Home Care Total
8
€60.5
5
€120. 0
6 7
€44.0 €93. 0 €1,283.6
Parliamentary Question 32697/15: “the estimated cost of a €10 increase in the weekly rate of all pension age payments is €309.2 million. These costs also include proportionate increases for qualified adults, where applicable. Therefore the cost of an increase of €30 to €263 is €927.6m.” 2 Proposed fixed allocation. 3 This is the equivalent of a 10 per cent increase. 4 Parliamentary Question 43939/15: “As the funding provided in 2011 was €76m, additional funding of €25.5m would be required to restore funding to that level.” 5 Parliamentary Question 43745/15: “The cost of increasing the Living Alone Allowance to €15 per week is €60.5 million in a full year.” 6 Revenue from prescription charges in 2014 was €120.4 million. 7 Parliamentary Question 36616/13: “It is estimated that the cost of reducing the threshold for the Drug Payment Scheme equates to approximately €1 million per annum for every €1 reduction." The cost of this measure is therefore estimated at €20m. This measure will benefit families who fall outside the income guidelines for a medical card but may be incurring significant medical expenses on a monthly basis.. 8 Based on an estimate provided by the HSE to the Department of Health in its 2016 Budget submission. 1
