Up to 45 per cent of older women experience poverty in Ireland, according to the National Women's Council.
Orla O'Connor, Head of Policy at NWCI
In its pre-budget submission, the National Women's Council highlights this figure saying it is "unacceptably high".
The NWCI are calling on the Government to do more to address this inequality in the upcoming budget by introducing measures to help older women.
According to the NWCI, the majority of women on social welfare dependant are on their husbands payment and many older women do not have access to an independent income through the state pension.
"The Government needs to take specific actions in Budget 2007 to remove discrimination against women. It is simply immoral that despite so much prosperity, 45 per cent of older women, many after lives spent parenting and caring, live in poverty," said Orla O'Connor, Head of Policy at NWCI.
The NWCI is also seeking more investment in childcare and are calling for the introduction of paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers.
"We want parents to be able to choose to be at home with their child for the first year of life. The benefits to children of being with their parents in the first year of their lives have been recommended by national and international research on childcare" said Ms O'Connor.
Elsewhere, the NWCI is seeking increased funding for services for women who have experienced abuse. According to the researched cited by the NWCI, 15 per cent of women experience severe domestic abuse while one is five adult women have experienced sexual abuse.
Meanwhile, 293 elderly people died from cold related deaths in Northern Ireland last winter, according to new figures.
The figures were revealed by the Help the Aged charity as the launch of its campaign to raise awareness of the issue.
"It is a scandal, in a country as developed as Northern Ireland, that any older person should die cold and alone in the winter months," said Duane Farrell, head of policy, research and communications for the charity in the province.
Mr Farrell called for urgent action, he added: "The message is still not getting through about the magnitude of the problem,. "Older people need to be given higher priority and be more effectively targeted by the Government's fuel poverty initiatives."