I fear my own government

To add to Victoria White’s piece (Irish Examiner, Sept 6) in addition to the 700,000 hour cuts to home help hours there was an earlier cut of 700,000, and in addition home helps are told not to talk to their patients.

Don’t they realise that sometimes the home helps are the only people that they see all day, and not all old people are in receipt of gilt-edged defined pension benefits al la the Croke Park agreement, and not every old person has a home valued at €2m?

Some of us, as I did, went to work in the 50s not quite 14 years old to help out our struggling parents.

I had to give up work aged 40, due to major surgery and other illness, and as a consequence I don’t have a large pension, and almost directly after back surgery went in to full-time caring for my disabled Mam, and also cared for my stroke victim Dad, caring totally for over 25 years until they both died. Older people, in general, are coming under a lot of stick, and it’s not justified. Granted, there are very wealthy old people who should not have the medical card or the travel pass.

They are millionaires due to the stupidity of the last Government, as was their custom, of buying votes, also retired TDs who ran like rats from a sinking ship, and got lotto-sized pensions, and golden handshakes, and now one independent retired TD won’t pay back an overpayment as “he can’t afford it.” Tough.

I have a fear of getting ill and needing full-time care, and having to fight for care as I had to fight to get treatment for my parents.

I was one of the OAPs that got a threatening letter from Revenue, which terrified me, but as I was tax compliant I was okay.

I would respectfully ask that in future any journalist doing an article on older people should contact older peoples’ organisations, not least the Carers Association where there a lot of older people in their 70s, and older, caring for special needs children, but also elderly extremely ill pensioners caring for elderly and very ill pensioner spouses ,

When the Taoiseach complimented Minister Reilly on his “courage” in reversing cuts to the disabled, surely the people that showed courage were the disabled people that protested outside Government Buildings all night, people that showed courage and example to the rest of us by not taking any more cuts.

I shall be 70 years old next year and I fear my own government. Surely my government should fear me? I am a member of the Carers Association, a wonderful organisation.

Without them, I could not have coped when I was full-time caring.

Pat Kelly

Blackrock

Cork City