OIREACHTAS REPORT: Minister Shane Ross blamed for closure of Mullingar bar

• Minister Shane Ross blamed for closure of Mullingar bar 

• No place for ill man whose parents are 80 years of age 

• Private sector workers should be allowed work until age of 66

The closure of the Cloughan Inn in Turin was a direct result of the new measures introduced by Shane Ross the Minister For Transport, Tourism and Sport, Senator Aidan Davitt of Fianna Fáil told the upper house.

He called on the leader of the house to bring Minister Shane Ross to the house to explain what he intends to do to reverse the untold harm he is doing to rural Ireland.

“He made a shallow promise of buses for rural Ireland as part of his legislative agenda but it has proven to be a pipe dream,” Senator Davitt told the house.

“There was only one public house in my locality and that closed in the last month,” he said.

“It was the only one within a seven-mile radius.

“The closure of the Cloughan Inn was a direct result of the new measures.

“At various stages, it was a céilí house, a grocery store and, in more recent times, a meeting place for all political parties, the IFA, many GAA clubs and most other initiatives in the locality.”

While the adjoining restaurant is struggling on, Senator Davitt said the closure of the bar does not paint a rosy picture for the restaurant either.

This is a blow by proxy to the community of Cloughan and the surrounding area, he said.

“I ask the leader to bring the minister to the house to account for his campaign against rural Ireland.

“He made a promise on transport, but it was a puff of smoke.

“His statements regarding what he would do to save rural Ireland were mere smoke and mirrors.”

In response the acting leader, Senator Neale Richmond said he would invite the minister to a debate.

“I will not necessarily use some of the language that the senator used, but the issue deserves attention and discussion in this house,” Senator Davitt said.

 

The case a constituent adult child being cared for by two parents who are almost 80 years of age was raised in the Dáil by Deputy Robert Troy of Fianna Fáil.

They have, he said, provided care for their adult son for more than four decades.

He has Down’s syndrome and now Alzheimer’s disease.

They urgently want him to move into long-term care because they can no longer physically provide care.

“However, there is no place available for him,” said Deputy Troy.

“As a compromise, they have been told that they have been approved to receive 14 hours of Home Help.

“However, there is a waiting list. The business case has been made and the HSE is waiting for recycled hours to come back on stream. That is not good enough in this day and age and must stop.”

Speaking during a debate on a motion on the needs of older people, Deputy Troy said the current method of allocation of home support hours is far from satisfactory. Access to healthcare should never be based on a postcode; it should be open and transparent and the system applied consistently throughout the country.

“Thankfully, home supports provided in my region are good,” he said.

“I acknowledge the administrative support staff who run the scheme and also those on the front line who provide care for individuals on a daily basis to allow them to stay in their homes where they want to be.”

Deputy Troy called on the government to support Deputy Willie O’Dea’s Bill - which would place the provision of home care services on a statutory basis, just like the Fair Deal scheme.

“It would ensure people would have access to home care services,” Deputy Troy added.

 

Those dependent solely on the state old age pension which is payable at age 66, and that age will increase, are often forced into the humiliating position of having to claim unemployment benefit until they reach 66, Deputy Willie Penrose of the Labour party told the Dáil.

Speaking during a debate on the Social Welfare Bill, which implements the budget provisions, he said the legislative intervention in recent weeks dealt with the public sector retirement age and means that public sector employees have the option of working until they are 70 if they wish.

“However,” he added, “many private sector workers do not have that option, and there is a strong argument for putting arrangements in place to enable all private sector workers who will be solely dependent on the state old age pension to work until 66 years of age. Again, it would be voluntary, not mandatory.”

Deputy Penrose said Japan has increased the age at which workers can draw a state pension to 70 and there are proposals to increase the pension age to 75.

“Some workers who do hard physical work should be allowed to retire at 65 or even 60,” he said.

“It is hard, physical, manual work on building sites for construction workers.

“However, many workers may well be in better shape and able to work beyond 65 and they should be facilitated to do so.”