Pensioners protest - Age is no barrier to active anger

The sight of senior citizens protesting outside the gates of the Dáil yesterday was a stark warning to the Coalition that age is no barrier to active anger and that, once riled, older people have a strident and far-reaching voice.

While the numbers gathered were in the low thousands, the rally was reminiscent of the fallout from the budget brought in by the late Brian Lenihan in Oct 2008. Travelling from all corners of Ireland, 15,000 older people protested outside the Dáil in response to his decision to withdraw free primary medical care and prescription medicines for the over-70s.

The unprecedented protest, organised by the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, attracted widespread public support across generations and eventually forced the then government to do a U-turn. While the principle of universal access was lost, 95% of people over the age of 70 retained their entitlements.

Once again, it is the ISCP — with its 430 affiliate associations — leading the charge. Ironically, yesterday’s gathering was almost certainly aided by the availability of free bus and rail travel to those anxious to once more give our political masters a piece of their mind.

The Leinster House rally was held specifically to highlight how elderly people have been affected by:

* The further reduction on the over-70 medical card limit;

* The increase to €2.50 on the prescription charge;

* The ending of the telephone allowance and bereavement grant.

While older people have escaped relatively unscathed from a succession of austerity budgets, any cut to allowances or income will tend to affect them more. The younger generation has options like retraining, upskilling, engaging in further education, and emigration. Their older counterparts do not.

Trade unions came out in support of the protest rally, with Siptu’s National Retired Staff Council chairman, Frank Gannon, arguing that Budget 2014 targeted the elderly in particular.

“Older people have been accused by media commentators of not having been hit by the austerity measures introduced by the current Government,” he said. “The fact is they have been hit by cuts that include those to home help care packages, respite care grants, the fuel support scheme, rising drug costs, and soaring energy bills.”

The cumulative effects of all those cuts point to far-reaching consequences. There is little doubt, for instance, that the ending of the telephone allowance will particularly affect older adults living alone in rural areas, while those with multiple illnesses may be forced to choose what drugs they can afford to take.

One of the reasons that even mild protests by older people tend to be so effective is that they don’t do it very often. Another possible reason is the level of inter-generational solidarity. A survey by Trinity College Dublin and NUI Galway last March found strong support for government policies that assist the generational extremes, among them pensions and medical care for families with children. A key finding of the study showed a willingness of one generation to support and assist the other even in recessionary times.

While it may be unreasonable to expect that any section of society should escape austerity entirely, neither should equality in this regard be reduced to a form of shared misery.