Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 17 May 2006

Vol. 183 No. 17

Ageism Policy: Statements.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. Fahey)

Say No To Ageism week takes place from Monday, 15 May to Friday, 19 May 2006. It is an initiative of the Equality Authority, the Health Service Executive and the National Council on Ageing and Older People. Say No To Ageism week provides a valuable opportunity to reflect on the barriers to equality for older people created by ageism. Ageism diminishes the status of older people in society and limits their access to economic resources. It generates negative attitudes towards older people such as being treated with disrespect or being patronised. It disempowers older people and limits their capacity to participate in making decisions that impact on them. Ageism ultimately prevents older people from participating in and fully contributing to society.

Say No To Ageism week seeks to stimulate cultural change in how society views and values older people. The week will involve the use of billboards showing a long line of birthday candles which seek to celebrate ageing, and national and local radio advertisements which encourage all to reflect on how we can so easily stereotype older people. The National Union of Journalists is organising an event to highlight the role of the media in challenging ageism. The Say No to Ageism week seeks to support institutional change in the way organisations provide services to older people. A publication entitled, Towards Age Friendly Provision of Goods and Services, which provides practical guidance for organisations, is being widely distributed. The Health Service Executive will launch an action programme during the week involving 16 different health service organisations. The transport sector will launch an action programme during the week involving Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, the rural transport initiative, Luas and larnród Éireann.

Some commentators regard our changing demographic which predicts an increase in the median age of the population as a liability but I regard the unexpectedly rapid increase in life expectancy as an unalloyed blessing. The majority of older people are healthy and fit. Unjustified discrimination on the ground of age is not only hurtful to those who are its victims but also represents a dramatic waste of knowledge, experience and wisdom. At a time when employers are finding it difficult to recruit and retain competent workers, a prejudice against older people is bad business sense.

Our booming economy has already transformed the economic reality of women shown by an unprecedented increase in participation rates by women in the labour force. Progressive employers are now identifying the particular advantages older people can give to an increasingly diverse workforce.

The Employment Equality Acts and the Equal Status Acts outlaw discrimination on the ground of age. The provisions with regard to age were strengthened in the Equality Act 2004 which gave effect to the EU anti-discrimination employment directive. The Employment Equality Acts are framed on the basis of a general principle that where the employee is willing to undertake or continue to undertake, or will accept or continue to accept, the conditions under which the duties are required to be performed and is fully competent and available to undertake and fully capable of undertaking the duties attached to the position, there ought to be no discrimination on the ground of age. Certain exceptions are provided for in cases such as the emergency services and the Defence Forces.

The Equality Act 2004 amended the exclusion in the 1998 Act from discrimination on the age ground in respect of persons less than 18 years of age or 65 years or over. In the former case, a provision based on the statutory age for school leavers is provided and employers may continue to set minimum recruitment ages where these do not exceed 18 years. Both of these are intended to avoid any undermining of State policy to discourage early school leaving which might result from the anti-discrimination code. No upper age threshold is provided for but compulsory retirement ages may continue to be set.

To fit the equality provisions with the more general body of employment protection law, the Equality Act 2004 made two consequent provisions in respect of older employees. The first is to allow employers to offer fixed term contracts to persons over the set retirement age without being in contravention of employment protection law governing permanent and temporary employment and employees' rights in this context. The second provision extended the employment protection law governing unfair dismissals to persons regardless of their age, so long as they are still in employment.

The Equal Status Act 2000 prohibits discrimination on the ground of age in the access to and the supply of goods and services. This Act has already shown it has teeth when it comes to protecting the rights of older people. In the case of Ross v. Royal and Sun Alliance, the equality officer found that the operation of an across the board policy of refusing motor insurance quotations to persons over 70 years of age is in conflict with the Act. The general principle of equality requires people in the same situation to be treated equally. Conversely, it requires different treatment for people in different situations. Older people can have special needs, for example, in the areas of housing and health. For this reason, the Equal Status Act specifically permits housing authorities to provide priority in housing for older people.

In the budget of 2006 the Government allocated additional funding for health services for older people and palliative care amounting to €150 million. This amounts to an additional €110 million for 2006 and an additional €40 million for 2007. Approximately two thirds of this money was allocated to community support for older people. This is in line with the focus on keeping people in their own homes, in independence and dignity, with a well-funded and viable alternative to residential care with proper health and social support systems in place in the form of, among other supports, home care packages. This year Health Service Executive staff throughout the country will take part in initiatives in the workplace that will challenge ageism and promote awareness and understanding of the issues of ageism. The HSE is involved for the third year in organising and promoting this campaign.

I thank the Equality Authority, the HSE and the National Council on Ageing and Older People for organising Say No To Ageism week and I wish them well in their endeavours.

Ms Terry

I welcome the Minister of State who is taking this debate, the holding of which I very much support. I congratulate the Equality Authority on taking on board the campaign of Say No To Ageism. It is timely and it should be run on an annual basis. Our population is ageing. The performance of a country and a Government can be judged on how well they look after their older people. The Government's performance can be judged by examining how well everybody in our community is looked after, particularly our older people.

Some people cope much better with the challenges presented by advancing years than others. This depends perhaps on their health. Luckily many of our older people are much healthier and fitter than the previous generation and, therefore, they will live longer. However, many others will encounter difficulties. It is those difficulties and barriers they encounter in their older years that will present the greatest challenge for them. Ensuring that they have the respect, dignity and independence they deserve depends on how well we address those difficulties and barriers.

Many people are not being well looked after and ageism is a factor for them. Many of them encounter great difficulties in accessing health services. The Minister of State referred to the allocation in the 2006 budget for services for older people and palliative care. As we have often discussed here, we know that level of funding is not sufficient to keep many of our older people in the manner in which any of us would want our ageing mothers or fathers to be kept. Many more older people should be living at home rather than in nursing homes or hospitals but because they do not have the necessary support services to do that they end up in nursing homes, which is not the best place for them.

Many older women in particular, women who had to leave the workforce because of the marriage bar, are dependent on their spouses for their pension. This matter, which I have raised on a number of occasions, needs to be tackled. To give women in their older years the independence they deserve, we should give their portion of the pension directly to them, and that should be mandatory. They get their pension by choice, but it is discriminatory that they do not get it as a right, rather they have had to seek it. There may be special family circumstances which prohibit them from seeking this portion of their pension directly in their own name. I ask the Minister of State to use his power to change that aspect and thereby grant those women the independence they deserve.

We could address this matter in another way by extending the homemakers' scheme to those women who chose to stay at home and to the many women who were forced to do so. That includes a large number of farmers' wives who worked on the farm and women who worked in their husbands' business or the family shop, as relatives assisting, as they were termed. The homemakers' scheme should be extended to those women to enable them to be given a pension in their own right. I hope the Government will take on board that suggestion.

A large number of people are approaching the age range of 60 to 65 and will retire in the next few years. However, many of them are fit and healthy and do not wish to retire. We should examine measures that could be put in place to allow people to work beyond the ages of 65 or 66 if they want to do so. Such a measure should not be mandatory, which some other countries are considering. Some countries like France, Spain and Germany considered going down the mandatory route of extending the retirement age, but that met with great opposition. Germany has pulled back from that suggestion and is considering extending the retirement age by one month per year from 2008 up to 2032. Perhaps that is a proposal we could consider. Choice should surround such a measure.

If people want to work longer or if they would like to work in a more flexible fashion, employers should be compelled to allow them to work part time. In doing that they will defer taking up their pension and when they subsequently retire, their pension will be higher. Finland has introduced a measure in this area whereby bonus pensions are given to people who do not retire until the age of 68. If people here chose to work longer, they will receive a higher pension, the Government will benefit as a result of the additional tax revenues and the economy will also improve. The measure introduced in Finland has been proven to work well.

Many people approaching retirement age find their pensions are inadequate. They find they will not realise the value they expected from their pension scheme despite having paid into it for many years. Extending the retirement age is a way of assisting people in funding their pension. We should facilitate that. Furthermore, it is a proposal that the Pensions Board has recommended and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs is interested in examining, but it should be a matter of choice.

We should not force people to work beyond retirement age. Many people would not be able to do the same type of job that they have done for many years, particularly if it consisted of hard physical work. For example, a labourer would not be able to continue after retirement age doing the type of work he did in the past. Therefore, we must consider the element of flexibility and provide a flexible workplace for older people in the same way as we must do for people with young families, particularly women. We can examine both ends of the spectrum and accommodate people by making the work-life balance much better for people. Ireland is in the happy position of having a large pool of young workers. It is not like other countries where there is a shortage of workers and they are considering the introduction of regulations to force the older workforce to continue at work. Happily, we are not in this position and can therefore extend the retirement age, by choice, for those who want it. We have to work at changing attitudes and I welcome the Equality Authority's billboard campaign in that regard. There are those who have stereotypical attitudes about older people. That is hard to take if a person is the subject of some ageist remark. It is something that needs to be tackled and I believe this campaign will work. However, we need to keep at it.

While the population is ageing at the moment, the older age group is nonetheless becoming a force to be reckoned with. I welcome that and believe that the Government and political parties will listen to what they have to say. They are telling us that they need more recognition. Those who shout the loudest tend to get what they want. I welcome the fact that older people and their organisations are getting stronger and looking for their rights. They are looking for better health services and community care, better pensions etc. Unfortunately, successive Governments, not just this one, have ignored older people for far too long. I welcome the fact that there are good organisations in place now. Older people are themselves very vocal in expressing what they want. Of course, there is a large group of people, too, who cannot voice their opinions and we must do it for them. We must ensure that we look after much older people, in particular, those who are ill or have disabilities and those in their 80s and 90s. We are not looking after them very well, however, in terms of delivering the health services they require.

I welcome this campaign and believe there is a great deal to be done. The Equality Authority has said discrimination based on age has accounted for just over 12% of cases of alleged discrimination under employment equality legislation. That figure is very high and is something we need to look at. We must do everything we can to ensure that such discrimination does not continue and to put in place practices that will help to eliminate it. We can help to avoid ageism by ensuring that all our legislation is "equality proofed". Local authorities must be vigilant as regards their policies, whether on housing or whatever. They must ensure that any policies they introduce will not discriminate against people in terms of access to buildings, office opening times etc. This initiative is to be welcomed. I hope it is something we can come back to because this is a growing issue and needs to be addressed.

Mr. Kett

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and am glad to have the opportunity to say a few words on this very important subject. It will occupy debating time in both Houses of the Oireachtas more and more as time goes on.

Research from the Central Statistics Office shows that older people experience discrimination in Ireland. The most common form of such discrimination is ageism. The CSO points out that the situation is not peculiar to Ireland, but is to be found right across Europe. The European Network of Older Volunteers points to a range of areas where discrimination is prevalent. It has highlighted in particular the problems of accessing education, the health services and financial services. This week, as the Minister of State has said, we see the launch of the second annual Say No To Ageism campaign, which is being promoted jointly by the Equality Authority, the HSE and the National Council on Ageing and Older People. The latter is an organisation, which along with many others, is doing fine work on the whole area of ageism.

The first national equality survey in this area that I am aware of, tells us that more than 10% of adults experience discrimination at work and in accessing services. Common in such discrimination is ageism. Ageism is now challenging racism and sexism as one of the main offenders in this whole area. The findings will probably come as no surprise to the Equality Authority. It has become more and more common for it to be dealing with ageism complaints. In 2003 something in the region of 9% of complaints to the authority were on the grounds of ageism. We are doing a certain amount in this regard, but as the population grows older it will become a bigger issue. At present some 450,000 people are over 65 years of age. Out of every 100 people over 65, 30 have some form of disability. Organisations that work with older people should consider teaming up with those bodies which have now become a real focus in society and are major advocates for people with disabilities. Such bodies are well informed and because the two areas can overlap, both groups should form an alliance which could be a major tool for exploring and advancing common opportunities.

One in three persons over 65 suffers disability of one type or other and two-thirds of people over 85 have disabilities. Older people are experiencing many of the difficulties that younger people with disabilities suffer. They experience problems moving around their own homes, to start with, and in accessing shops, restaurants or pubs — if they so desire, turning on the television, listening to the radio etc. Traditionally, many of those difficulties have been viewed by society as greater dependency. Disabled people will argue, however, that far from being dependent on society, many of the issues involved are caused by environmental barriers. Older people come into this category. If we were to ensure that the barriers which prevent older people and those with disabilities from doing what they should be able to do were removed, there would be a major saving, apart from anything else. One could look at the whole area of assistive technologies. Assistive technologies are used for people with disabilities and could also be used for those who find it difficult to do various tasks as they get older. Technologies now exist which allow disabled people to live independently in their homes, when heretofore this could never have been considered. This could also allow older people to live independently, doing things with the aid of technologies which they would not otherwise have been able to do. While I do not wish to reduce this issue to one of money, in many ways it is a cheap option for people to live at home on their own with the aid of technology. This would save money that could have been spent on paying for care. Carers are a tremendous asset who do an unknown quantity of work. If the retired people who do caring work were to stop in the morning we would find out how much they contribute to society with no recompense, although I accept the recompense for those who are officially considered as carers has improved in recent times.

We are told that education is a tremendous way for older people to engage with society. Research tells us that people enjoy life more in older age if they embark on a course of study. Other studies tell us that older people who study find it one of the most liberating things they can do. Completing a course of study can improve one's self esteem enormously. I am aware of quite a few people who have done this and they have recounted to me the great sense of achievement they experienced. This is something we should encourage and not hinder.

In many ways we are at a crossroads as a society in terms of our relationship with our older citizens. If we do not reach a positive conclusion about their place in society it will be difficult for us to move forward with any kind of orchestrated plan of action to help them. We need vision and leadership as we progress on this issue. The vision that is required is one that will give people the best possible opportunity as they grow older. We are all guilty in some way or other of having made the odd comment about that "auld wan" or "auld fellow" or whatever the case may be. We need to gain a better understanding of the contribution older people make to their communities and families. It has always been the case that older people have contributed a great deal to society but much of that work has gone unrecognised.

We must also agree the respective roles of the agencies involved, be it the State, the family or the community. There must be a clear role for everybody involved in this area. The goal should be to allow older people the greatest amount of independence and self-fulfilment possible. There is little doubt there is a major challenge ahead for us all in this regard. Perhaps the most serious barrier is the culture of ageism that permeates negatively through society, although I am led to believe there has been an improvement. Everybody is guilty of this at some stage.

The debate on older people in society must also address the issue of long-term care. This must include looking after the social, psychological and spiritual needs of older people. One cannot just land people in long-term care and forget about them. One must look after them and manage their way forward. Connectivity is the key word in all of this. When people require long-term care we cannot allow them to be removed from family, friends, neighbours and all the things with which they are familiar.

The financing of long-term care is an important aspect of the matter. We must examine whether it should be the responsibility of the State or of individuals. I was delighted to hear the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, speak on this issue on the "Marian Finucane Show" on Saturday morning. She was tremendous. Older people would have been heartened with what she said in regard to people growing older and outliving their money. She said the State would not be found wanting, which is most encouraging to people who are in, or may find themselves in, that situation.

We have probably all experienced older relatives having difficulties. My father lived to the great age of 99. We were blessed to have him. The last seven years of his life were spent in a home. I saw at first hand the problems that can present in that regard. I remember having to drive to Galway to convince a GP that the medical problem my father had was not age related and when the doctor saw the light he was able to cure this minor problem. My father was lucky that he had me to advocate for him. Many people out there suffer in silence.

Advocates are so important in this area, as they are in other areas, such as disability and so on. It is key to a problem to have someone advocating or looking out for one. I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on this issue. I hope it will be one of many debates held both in this House and in the other House as we move towards legislating in this regard.

Ms Tuffy

I wish to share time with Senator Ryan.

Acting Chairman (Ms O’Meara)

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Ms Tuffy

I welcome the campaign against ageism and the Say No To Ageism initiative. We should remember that age discrimination affects people of all ages. In launching such a campaign we should acknowledge there is common ground between discrimination against both younger people and older people. The Minister of State has alluded to this to some extent. There is a particular problem in regard to ageism in terms of older people but there is also a problem with age discrimination against other age groups. For example, we do not fully recognise the rights of children and we have much work to do in this regard, which is also age related. We should take this approach in the future.

We should get rid of the way we categorise people in terms of their age. Discrimination against older people on age grounds is one of the last bastions of acceptable discrimination. It is almost politically correct to discriminate against people in this cohort. Political commentators often make an issue of the age of politicians. For example, they use "middle age" as a term of abuse. They have a certain attitude towards older people in politics. It is as if they consider that if a person is old, he or she is past it and should not take part in politics. Older people are as under-represented in politics as are younger people. This is something that needs to be addressed. I believe Senator White has carried out a study on this. We should not accept derogatory comments relating to a person's age, be it in regard to politicians or people in any other job. People bring something to careers, including politics, no matter what their age or the sector of society from which they come. We need as much diversity in the workforce and society in general as possible.

Bob Carroll, director of the National Council on Ageing and Older People, published an article on an equality website recently. He stated ageism is an endemic cultural problem and referred to a study conducted by his organisation on our health and social services. The study found evidence of upper age limits for intervention, which directly exclude older people, and evidence of a lack of referrals of older people to specialist services. Our constituents also provide us with anecdotal evidence that this is happening and it is not acceptable. The report recommends that future national statements and strategic plans relating to social care for older people should acknowledge the importance of eradicating ageism in the health and social services. This should also apply to local authorities, of one of which I was a member.

The Minister of State referred to supports the Government is providing to house the elderly, which are welcome, but much more needs to be done in that regard because local authorities are not housing older people. The National Council on Ageing and Older People and the Equality Authority jointly published a document entitled Towards Age Friendly Provision of Goods and Services, which was intended to provide guidance for organisations that provide age-friendly goods and services. Account needs to be taken of the specific needs, experiences and situations of older people and other age groups in the design and delivery of goods and services. Local authorities do not do this and they are reluctant to provide housing for the elderly. Their failure to do so is discriminatory. I urge the Minister of State and the Government to tackle local authorities on this issue and ensure they draw down funding to house the elderly.

Mr. Ryan

I will be 60 in August.

Mr. Kett

I do not believe that.

Mr. Fahey

The Senator does not look it.

Mr. Ryan

I am not aware of anything that has changed about me apart from when I look in the mirror and see grey hair, which used to be black. I do not feel older intellectually. When I was younger I was more conservative in many ways but my politics have shifted to the left because I have developed an even healthier scepticism of all forms of power and authority as I have gotten older. I should be classified as an anarchist rather than a socialist because my views on authority have become so dimmed by my experiences, whatever about my views on the complexities of a number of issues which, perhaps, have been attuned a little.

I am glad the debate is moving on to ageism and not ageing. One of the most fundamental issues about ageism is we move on from it so quickly to talk about ageing that it immediately becomes a problem. The symptoms of ageism are not illnesses, no more than the symptoms of childhood. The characteristics of a six-month old baby are not an illness and, for example, a great deal of time is spent treating pregnancy as an illness. We should be wary of allowing the medical profession to take over the debate about ageing. We must recognise the process of life's transition as normal and deal with it accordingly. We should address issues as they come up, for example, the problem of adolescent hormones should not be considered an illness while considering the absence of similar hormones in older people a relief to society.

These issues are symptoms of different ages and they should never be allowed to be turned into categories of illnesses because, once that happens, they must be cured whereas many of the issues related to ageing should be experienced and addressed. The categorisation of these symptoms as problems makes life difficult for people as they get older because they begin to feel they are at one remove from society.

We need to recognise joyfully that it is good that people live longer, even though it creates issues that did not exist previously. However, the fact that people live longer should not be a problem for the individuals and, most assuredly, it should not be one for society. The focus, therefore, should be on people's lives and, for example, the question of work.

Ageing needs to be addressed but it is not entirely an accident that at a time our society has significant spare cash, pension fund managers have suddenly discovered a crisis. We need to be careful not to be "shanghaied" into taking actions with the money of individuals and society that are not justified by well-grounded objective evidence.

A number of the reports I have read about the alleged crisis in 2050 are based on negative perceptions of economic growth and incorrect forecasts on population growth, particularly in light of the evidence of the past few years. If Ireland experiences a significant influx of young people of child bearing and child rearing age — this is a horrible phrase — the projections of the age structure of our society in 50 years will be way off the mark. I do not wish to get into a debate with actuaries but when dealing with every issue, the truth should stand up.

I refer to the issue of learning. Changes in technology can lead to the exclusion of older people. For instance, those who cannot handle the Internet have become dependent when it comes to arranging holidays, travel and so on. Therefore, we must make sure a process is built into our lives that not only kicks in at 65 years but is present throughout our lives so people are encouraged, enabled and facilitated to renew their learning and embrace new technologies, otherwise barriers and problems will be created. The same argument applies to recreation. There is no reason to believe that participation in all forms of sport should end when one turns 33 having damaged a knee, a finger and so on. There should be a transition to different levels of activity.

Relationships are also an issue as people get older. There is no reason older people should be condemned to solitude or celibacy. It was not part of the deal and it should not be made, as a result of societal norms or ignorance, part of the deal. With regard to the aesthetic, a country with a limited culture imagines that beauty is the preserve of the young. The great photographers, painters and writers of the world have portrayed older people and ageing with a degree of sensual beauty that is as real as that in younger people. It is a little less superficial but very real for all of that.

Ms White

Hear, hear.

Mr. Ryan

Sean Connery is regularly selected as one of the sexiest actors in the world. He is even older than I am, although I do not aspire to be him. However, this is a serious issue, which concerns integrating the fact that our population is ageing into a single view of society, which is not made up of younger and older people but which recognises that older people will frequent the same places as younger people and older people can start from the presumption that these things happen all through life and can be replicated all through life.

One of the things that fascinates me about our current society is the extraordinary ignorance of the marketplace. There is a large population between 55 and 70 years of age consisting of people with extraordinary amounts of disposable income, yet the market has decided that the demographic to chase is the 15 to 24 age group, who have not got a bob when compared with the older age group. I do not wish to ignore those who are in deprivation, but the average middle class citizen in his or her late 50s has far more disposable income than the average 15 to 24 year old, who generally is still in college, can afford to drink and not much more.

It is extraordinary that there is such a limited focus on this older age group. It may be due to the fact that older people are not easily persuaded to part with their money, but that does not mean they will sit on it forever. Most of my friends are in my age group and they have no intention of leaving vast sums of money to what they regard as children who are well looked after. They will not be seduced by bland advertising into buying things they do not need, or be persuaded to buy labels that have become the fashion of the moment. Nevertheless, older people can be persuaded to spend money on a product that they want, will use and that has a point to it. However, they will not be persuaded to buy a car every year, rather than every two years.

To combat ageism, there is a need to integrate. There is a need not to have a view of aging or youth, but to have a view of a society which is made up in an holistic way of all sorts of people with different limits and abilities. We must make sure that there are no little categories into which we squeeze people.

Mr. Minihan

I welcome the Minister of State to the House, as well as the comments made by Senator Ryan, including the admission of his great age. At times when we debate, I might say that I think he is six, not 60. I am glad that point has been clarified today.

We had statements in this House only last month on the recent publication of a report entitled Inequality and the Stereotyping of Young People. It seems that at both ends of the human life-cycle there can be negative attitudes, understanding and treatment. This is not acceptable in either case. I add my support to Say No To Ageism week and congratulate the Equality Authority, the Health Service Executive and the National Council on Ageing and Older People for their initiative this year. The aim of the week is to promote new awareness and understanding of ageism. The website, the advertising campaign, the billboards and the anti-discrimination phone-in are all great ideas. When I visited the Equality Authority website, I did not see any mention of today's statements in the events taking place during the week. Perhaps this is something we should address for next year. At times we need to promote our role in this House.

Ageism is both distressing and paradoxical. The National Council on Ageing and Older People stated that ageism promotes the idea that older people are a burden, it can lead to neglect and social exclusion, diminish older people's self-esteem, reduce their participation in society and restrict the types and quality of services available to them. Ageism should be identified and eliminated. The Progressive Democrats Party takes a determined stance that ageism, like so many other pernicious "isms" is tackled at every turn. We are currently looking at new ways to ensure that policy and debate are not framed in such a way that they affect outcomes for older people, or attitudes and behaviour towards them. Ageism is seen as a pervasive problem that has profound effects on relationships between older people and society, as well as on the identity of older people themselves. We are not prepared to tolerate it and will continue to take active steps to challenge it.

Ageism and attitudes to older people in Ireland throws up something of a paradox. I was fascinated to read an article by Bob Carroll, the director of the National Council on Ageing and Older People, which pointed to research that indicates attitudes to older people are overwhelmingly positive, despite some differences in the strength of the attitudes according to age group. However, despite these positive attitudes, the article states that research showed there is an overwhelming perception that older people are treated less favourably because of their age. Most worryingly, the research suggests the State does not do enough for older people. There is on onus on all of us to address the root of that paradox, not only by taking steps to counter ageism, but to highlight the positive steps that are being taken for older people.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children has a personal dedication to improve the lives of Ireland's older people. This is not just rhetoric and it means action. She responded to the report to which I referred, Perceptions of Ageism in Health and Social Services in Ireland. She also affirmed her commitment to promoting healthy ageing and to an age-friendly society, to ensuring that older people, who have contributed to the development of our society, are treated with dignity and respect when receiving health care services. The Department of Health and Children is liasing with the HSE to deal with the recommendations in the report.

Take the most recent budget as another example. The Tánaiste ensured that dedicated funds were made available for wide-ranging new services for older people. She secured approximately €150 million for this, which is the largest ever increase in funding for services to older people. Her work will mean a major improvement in home and community-based support for older people. It will mean that thousands of older people needing care will receive new services and support. The Tánaiste explicitly stated her determination to put in place comprehensive health and social care for older people, in a way that is reliable, that respects and values older people, and that is fair financially to them, their families and taxpayers alike.

I referred earlier to the perception that the State does not do enough for older people. This additional funding comes on top of the extra funding for disability, mental health and primary care in the Estimates for 2006. The Government has pursued a policy to develop the general primary care programmes so that acute hospitals and residential care will not dominate extra investment for health care, as they have in the past. Ageism must be tackled by listening to older people. These initiatives are a direct response by the State to the preference of older people to be cared for at home rather than going into residential care. It is estimated that 28% of nursing home residents have a low to moderate dependency level. Many of these residents might very well have continued to live at home if the right supports had been made available to them at the appropriate time. Research shows that people who are cared for in their own homes live longer and with a better quality of life.

This initiative by the Tánaiste is sometimes referred to as the "multimillion euro home care package". However, that title does not reflect the detail of the excellent broader measures provided by the Minister. For example, some €55 million has been provided in home care packages. However, there is additional funding, including €33 million for home helps, €9 million for day and respite care, €13 million for specialist palliative care, €5 million for meals on wheels, €1 million for sheltered housing, €4 million for initiatives in primary and community care for older people, and €28 million for development of the subvention scheme and 250 extra beds.

Significantly regarding today's discussion, €2 million has been provided to tackle the ugliest and most evil manifestation of ageism, elder abuse, something of which we should all be very conscious. It is not merely physical, since there is also psychological and sexual abuse and the intimidation of older people. The National Council on Ageing and Older People, whose function is to advise the Minister on all aspects of ageing and the welfare of older people, particularly on measures to promote their health, described the Tánaiste's work as both positive and significant. I know the House will share the view that we are making progress, although there is no doubt we have more to do.

I said a few moments ago that the onus to address the paradox of ageism falls on us all, not only by adopting measures to counter it but by highlighting the positive steps being taken to benefit older people. A 72 year old woman from Tipperary was recently on the waiting list for cataract removal for two years, and I found an interview with her very interesting. The mid-western area of the HSE had arranged for her to have them removed under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. As a result of the treatment, which I believe was undertaken in Tralee, she now has 20-20 vision. We must bear in mind how the quality of life of a 72 year old woman was improved so dramatically through that intervention. Those who speak so positively of initiatives being undertaken by the Department of Health and Children to improve their lives should be listened to.

This week we were asked by the Equality Authority, the Health Service Executive and the National Council on Ageing and Older People to Say No To Ageism, drawing public attention to its existence in society and identifying ways to address and overcome it. Today's statements are one example of how that can be done. The measures I mentioned as having been taken by the Government are only some examples of how the State can make a positive contribution and respond to older people's needs. However, if we are truly to address this issue we must all, as individuals, listen to older people, challenging others who exhibit ageist attitudes and behaviour, and most of all challenging ourselves to be vigilant and proactive regarding anything that we might do, even inadvertently, to propagate negative attitudes towards older people in Irish society.

Mr. Quinn

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity to speak on this topic, in which I have a personal interest. I am delighted to see the Leader of the House, Senator O'Rourke. Some 12 years ago, as Minister, she introduced a Bill on unfair dismissal. It had passed through the Dáil, and in my first few weeks in the Seanad I examined it and discovered that age had not been included as a wrongful reason for dismissal. I raised the matter and was delighted to see my first amendment accepted by the Minister on the basis that it was a clear example of unfairness.

The second reason is that, now that I am well into my 60s and approaching the next big round, I have a personal interest in this matter. However, I also have a personal interest in recognising, with regard to ageism, that there is no single cut-off point. That someone can step down, as I did a few months ago, from full-time, day-to-day work means that he or she can be busier than ever in many other ways. I recognise that it is possible for individuals not to assume that they must stop work because they reach a certain age.

Ageism is a complex subject with wide ramifications, on one of which I wish to focus my remarks, namely, retirement. Recently there has been a great deal of discussion of the issue, and the idea now seems to be gaining ground that people should have more flexibility regarding when they choose to retire. I have used the term "choose" on purpose, since many people literally cannot wait until they are 65 and opt for early retirement where it is offered. Others are quite happy to wait until they are 65 but are determined to stop working at that point.

I have no problem with either choice, which have been the only options available hitherto. One option not available to most people but increasingly sought is that of continuing to work after the age of 65; I stress that I mean it only as an option. It seems madness to prevent a person from working who wants to do so and is physically capable simply because he or she happens to have reached an arbitrary age. The notion of having a fixed retirement age dates from another era, when people did not live as long as they usually do now and when they were generally not as healthy in their advanced years.

I think of an employee, whom I will simply call John, who came to me ten years ago. He told me that he would be 65 on 31 December that year. He had worked in the company for nine years and attended every day looking forward to work. He also said that many times during those nine years, he had looked at his watch thinking it was 4 p.m. only to see that it was 6 p.m., and I was very impressed.

Unfortunately, he died on Christmas Day that year, six days before being due to retire on his 65th birthday. Three days later his wife also died, so we had two funerals that week. I remember thinking in church of his words, which were a great challenge and a target. Irish employers must see the benefit and value of being able to give that to older people. From an employer's perspective, we must use the talent we can garner from older people. Over the years, I have learned that the talent in question has been wasted where people have been forced to retire.

There are many reasons people wish to continue working. They may enjoy the job so much they dread a life without it. They may not enjoy the work all that much but highly value the social life and contacts that accompany it. On the other hand, they may simply need the money. Whatever the reason, it can be a real tragedy if someone who wishes to work may not do so simply because of reaching an age limit. Apart from the personal side, from a national perspective, to end an employment in that way means a loss of resources to the company and the country as a whole. We currently have more vacancies than people to fill them, and it makes no sense to throw people on the scrapheap without good reason.

Having said that, I am not sure that I support moves in some quarters to raise the retirement age. The beady eyes of bean-counters in Merrion Street have spotted the fact that if we raised the retirement age, it would cost the State less. Of course, they are all in favour of it. Raising the official retirement age involves a degree of compulsion that should be absent from the discussion.

It would be better to focus on creating a situation relating to people's needs and wishes rather than to economic implications. In employment and taxation policy, we should focus attention on ensuring we place no obstacles before anyone who wishes to work past 65. I would like to see a further refinement introduced to the discussion, namely, the idea of partial retirement. Just as we need flexibility regarding the age at which people stop work, we should also consider greater flexibility regarding how people retire.

Instead of a sharp cut-off point whereby one works one day but not the next, a far better approach would enable people to gradually reduce their involvement in the job. A full five-day week would be beyond the wishes and capability of many over 65, but they would be willing and able to work part time. That way, their knowledge and expertise would continue to be available to their employers, but those concerned would have the benefit of a more relaxed lifestyle, being able to secure some of the leisure we associate with retirement.

We will only move in the direction I am suggesting if we value the input of older people. While some older people feel overwhelmed by the pace of modern life and, in particular, the technological changes we have seen in recent years, many others are as smart and up-to-date as any youngster, while also benefiting from greater experience and accumulated wisdom.

It is particularly appropriate that we are holding this debate during the annual Bealtaine festival, a month-long nationwide celebration of older people's creativity and participation in the arts. I am delighted that Senator White has also expressed her enthusiasm in that regard. The festival serves to remind us that our older generation represents a resource which this nation cannot afford to neglect.

Mr. Norris

As someone who has almost reached the age of 62, I have a vested interest in this issue.

Ms O’Rourke

The Senator is only a child.

Mr. Norris

I feel a certain sense of triumph at my survival to this age, although I have reached the point where I review death notices with increasing interest. I pay tribute not only to the agencies mentioned in the Minister of State's speech but also to Age Concern, with which I have worked, on its efforts to inform the general public.

I have noticed that men seem to die very soon after retirement, one of the reasons for which is because they lack interests. We should prepare people for retirement by encouraging them to broaden their interests beyond a tunnel-like focus on their jobs. It is important that we provide such training.

The Minister of State referred to the refusal by insurance companies to provide insurance to those over the age of 70. I have heard a number of complaints from tourists on this issue. Ireland receives a lot of American tourists who, although over the age of 70, are competent to drive. These visitors are automatically refused insurance cover without being tested in any way. That has an impact on our tourism industry.

As regards our general attitude towards older people, when the nursing home problem was raised in this House, old age pensioners living in homes were insultingly advised that they could retain a certain amount of pocket money. We have to be careful not to patronise by using terms such as "pocket money", which reduce the status of older children to the level of children. I was asked by Age Concern and other groups to make a short radio insert about the mistreatment of elderly people and, mea culpa, I told a story about my adored aunt. When she was in her late 90s and living in a nursing home, I decided to recover an 18th century wing armchair as a birthday present. I thought I was doing the devil and all but she was absolutely livid with rage and accused me of destroying the chair. That was not the case because the cover she claimed was an 18th century original was in fact a piece of horrible Edwardian fabric. However, the real reason for her anger was that I had taken her last vestige of control over her life and the disposition of her goods. I was extraordinarily insensitive to do so and I learned from the experience not to make these kinds of interventions without consulting the people concerned.

It is a source of concern that public nursing homes are not subject to inspection because I think the incidence of bed sores is frequent among elderly people in these homes. This matter should be thoroughly investigated in light of the scandal caused by the inspection of private nursing homes.

Some years ago, Sandymount's 102 year old postmistress stopped driving after being crashed into by another driver. She said she had to retire because road manners had deteriorated too much. In her own mind, she was still capable of driving but she was worried about the bad behaviour of other road users. That is an example of the spirit of older people, whose ranks we will all join if we are lucky.