This article is from page 63 of the 2008-12-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 63 JPG
MAJOR increases in payments to elderly people are needed if they are to cope with the recession, with many retired people living on the poverty line as it is, it was claimed this week.
Age Action West is calling on the Government to act to prevent wide- spread poverty among older people living on a fixed income.
James Reddiough of Age Action explained that a weekly income of €203 1s considered to be the line be- low which people are living in pov- Saas
‘Most people living on a state pen- sion are living on between €219 and €232 per week. That close to the poverty line and when you consider that’s to clothe, feed themselves, pay bills and in rural areas, pay for their own transport that’s not a lot of mon-
ey.” Said James.
Age Action wants increases in the State pension, the Living Alone AI- lowance and other entitlements such as the €10 fuel allowance to help pensioners make ends meet.
There are between 1,500 and 2,000 additional deaths each winter, com- pared to the summer, many of whom are older people who die because they cannot afford to keep them- selves warm,’ Age Action chief ex- ecutive Robin Webster said. “Lives could be saved by increasing the fuel allowance paid to the poorest pen- sioners.’”’