ELDERLY PEOPLE are being put at risk by cuts to the Community Support for Older People Scheme, Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan has said.
Mr Flanagan said other factors putting them at risk included cuts to the Garda budget, downgrading of rural Garda stations and a “minuscule” allocation of community gardaí. “Aggravated burglaries have surged by 51 per cent, according to the last Central Statistics Office figures, and we have witnessed a number of vicious attacks on elderly people,” he said.
There had been a “huge reduction” in grants allocated under the Community Support for Older People Scheme in 2009 compared to 2008, he said, adding that in the Taoiseach’s county, Offaly, they were cut from €84,688 to €16,395.
“Given that the purpose of this scheme is to enhance the safety of vulnerable elderly people through providing panic alarms, window and door security devices, exterior lighting, etc, it is scandalous to cut allocations at a time of rising burglaries,” he added.
Fine Gael, he said, was demanding a Dáil debate on elderly people and crime in the new year. It wanted measures such as:
arresting the decline of policing services to rural communities.
bringing forward measures to facilitate a significant increase in community gardaí numbers;
enhancing the Garda Community Safety Week initiative.
“In 2009 only a single week of initiatives has been dedicated to the safety of the elderly,” he said. “However, the aggravated burglary statistics show there is a need for a comprehensive Garda campaign aimed at increasing the safety precautions taken by elderly people. In the longer term, I am calling on Minister Ahern to dramatically increase the number of community gardaí and address the fact that the vast majority of Garda stations in this State are only open for a few hours a day.”