Sir, - Kitty Holland's article of April 3rd about the old poor struck a very poignant note. The findings of the report on Income Deprivation and Well-Being among older Irish People report confirms the message St Helena's Senior Citizens Voluntary Committee has been trying to convey for some years - that the elderly continue to be the casualties of the Celtic Tiger economy. Far from reaping any of the benefits of a prosperity nurtured by their hard work and sacrifice, over 60 per cent of all elderly households are living on less than a paltry £100 a week.
As a group of elderly people living in sheltered accommodation, we have experienced at first hand the deprivation described by Miss Holland. Our committee was set up in an effort to combat the hardship suffered by many senior citizens in Finglas, one of the poorest areas in the EU.
Ireland's booming economy seems to have forgotten the elderly living in sheltered accommodation where services remain at pre-1990 levels. In Dublin there are 3,800 old people spread over 54 complexes. Many are lonely, frail and living in circumstances of hardship which can often lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation.
The root of our problem is that the elderly poor do not have any organised, coherent voice or lobbying power. While we at St Helena's are endeavouring to become skilled in media relations in a bid to publicise our concerns about the current neglect of the elderly in our society, others are slow to follow our lead.
We have for a long time been appealing to have caretaking and other services back to their pre-1990 level. While we acknowledge that recent steps to install a caretaker a day-and-a-half per week in complexes is a step in the right direction, it is not enough. Do we have to wait until another tragedy happens before our message gets through?
Resident wardens have now been replaced by community wardens who each have to deal with 150 people spread over four different complexes. In recent years the bodies of three old people went undiscovered for long periods after their deaths in sheltered accommodation and one man was murdered at the hands of intruders.
Ms Holland interviewed an old couple, the Stanleys, who are struggling to make ends meet and dependent on the credit union for even the basics. Like them, many old people in sheltered accommodation cannot afford the little luxuries that make life bearable and have little or no social life. And just as the Stanleys were reluctant to complain, so many old people prefer to soldier on and not rock the boat. In recognition of this fact, annual excursions and parties for the elderly are also an important part of our work. But our efforts are only tackling the tip of the iceberg.
We at St Helena's do not have the mobility to know what is going on in other sheltered accommodation complexes. We do not know the true extent of the suffering endured by some residents. One member of our group alone has suffered from TB, has had several heart attacks and been treated for stroke, has a tumour on the lung and asthma. Surely people like him should not have the added worry of poverty.
If this situation is ever to change and if the Government are ever going to sit up and take note of our grievances, old people will have to stand up and be counted. - Yours, etc.
Billy Keegan, Secretary, St. Helena's Senior Citizens Voluntary Committee, Finglas South, Dublin 11.