This article is from page 6 of the 2012-08-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
OLD age pensioners and young mothers in Clare are resorting to shoplifting to survive as the recession sends a new group of people to the poverty line.
New figures show that older people are also going without certain foods, cutting back on electricity and fuel and are not buying clothes as they struggle to pay essential bills.
Clare Gardaí said they have come across a number of older people and mothers “who basically do not have enough money” and have come to their attention for shoplifting.
Superintendent Gerry Wall said there have been a number of incidents of shoplifting in Kilrush in the last seven months, with those responsible broken into three distinct cate gories – older people, young mothers and general thieves.
The increase in the number of older people and mothers resorting to crime to feed themselves and their families is a growing social concern, he maintained.
Gardaí have been treating the issue with sensitivity.
Supt Wall said that he and his colleagues are sensitive to the social needs of these people and have dealt with them by way of an adult caution. “I must say the shops in question have also been very understand ing,” he said.
Age Action Ireland, which promotes positive ageing and better policies and services for older people, said many older people are finding it impossible to make ends meet.
According to EU SILC statistics 9.6 per cent of over 65 year olds in Ireland are deemed to be at risk of poverty.
Gerard Scully of Age Action told The Clare People that the increase of household bills such as electricity and heating coupled with the reduction in the household package, which once assisted with those bills, is adding to the struggles.
“The social welfare pension has not even cut, but it also hasn’t been increased which is effectively a cut,” he said.
“A lot of older people with pri- vate pensions have also been badly hit. There is a phenomena of a ‘new poor’,” he explained.
“For the year 2010, 23 per cent of people over 65 were unable to pay for an item on the household budget. Older people are cutting back on clothes or shoes, and they wouldn’t be using electricity as much or eating meat in order to save money.
“It highlights the fact that many older people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. It belies any suggestion that older people are doing well out of the recession,” he said.