Government must redistribute wealth of elderly to help the young

MINISTER Reilly must be wishing he was back in that happy land where he could mouth off about means-testing the medical card for the over-70s whenever he saw a microphone.

The €10 million cut to the personal assistant hours for the disabled has been reversed, but the cut to 200 home care packages for the elderly has still not gone away. Reilly must be hoping Joe Duffy doesn’t put silver power on the streets again.

We all hate the thought of any cuts to the vulnerable. But when we write a blank cheque to the elderly we are writing a post-dated cheque to ourselves, the middle-aged, at the expense of the young.