Irish Examiner view: Support needed for the most vulnerable in society

Volunteers working say they often see “a complete lack of family support” in the lives of older people.

'There are over 1m people over the age of 60 in Ireland today, most of whom do not have access to representative bodies or State resolution mechanisms,' says Age Ireland's Celine Clarke.

In the same week as the Cloneen tragedy, worrying insight was provided by a group of volunteers after an HSE report recorded 1,583 reports of abuse against adults aged 18-64 made in 2021 in Cork and Kerry, compared to 1,342 in 2020.

Some 218 of those reports alleged abuse against people over 80. In total, over 550 allegations of ill-treatment involving people over 65 were made to safeguarding teams last year.

If that was not worrying enough, volunteers working with Cork City Partnership’s ‘Friendly Call’ service say they often see “a complete lack of family support” in the lives of vulnerable older people.

In one painfully arresting example, Brenda Barry, leader of Friendly Call, told of a woman in her 70s on dialysis.

She was living in the dark for God knows how long because she couldn’t get any of her children or anyone else to come and change her lightbulbs.”

Ms Barry’s 70-strong team also helps older people to avoid becoming victims of fraud, particularly in the context of the recent surge in scam calls and texts in Ireland.

“I had a woman tell me that she got a text saying she could double her Tesco points, and I reminded her that she didn’t even have an account,” said Ms Barry.

Notwithstanding all the good work, we must worry that the country relies so heavily on willing helpers to carry out this essential role, an observation emphasised by Age Ireland, which says safeguarding teams across the country are overly dependent on volunteers, and that the State is “failing its duty of care” to older people.

Head of advocacy Celine Clarke says the charity is campaigning for the establishment of a commissioner for ageing  and older persons, the introduction of adult safeguarding legislation, and the expansion of the legal concept of coercive control beyond intimate relationships.

She says: “There are over 1m people over the age of 60 in Ireland today, most of whom do not have access to representative bodies or State resolution mechanisms that are available to employees of business owners. 

A commissioner would address this gap by bringing representation and transparency to issues relevant to older people.”

While the age of 60 may no longer be considered the first step to dotage, we know from all statistical predictions that the numbers of older people are going to increase, that families are more fragmented, and that the rate of technical advance is going to, and already is, increasing marginalisation. 

The idea that there should be a champion, with some weighty powers, to represent their interests is a good one.