The Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament has called for old age pensions to be increased to £100 a week in the December Budget. It is also calling for compulsory occupational pensions in the private sector, and for women dependants to be given pensions in their own right.
In a wide-ranging submission, the parliament covers health, housing and employment issues, as well as pensions. On employment, it suggests the Government should assist older people who decide to take jobs and provide them with FAS training.
On housing, it urges the Government to hold a referendum to amend the Constitution, if necessary, to regulate property prices. On health, the parliament proposes that medical cards be granted to all persons over 66.
It seeks the extension of "free schemes" to public service pensioners and suggests that old people in isolated areas be given vouchers for taxis or other private transport to take them to public transport routes.
The parliament calls for the carers' allowance to be increased to £110 a week and for a proper recruitment and selection procedure and training for home helps.
In a separate submission, the Independent Living Network calls for £12.6 million to be set aside to provide personal assistants to 500 people with disabilities. Between 280 and 300 people with disabilities avail of community employment schemes to have personal assistants to help them in the home, workplace or college.
A spokesman for the ILN, Mr Michael Corbett, who was disabled in a car crash when he was 16, says a personal assistant has allowed him to return to work and his wife to go to college. He says Community Employment schemes are an unsuitable way of recruiting personal assistants because there was a 20-hour a week ceiling on their duties and the employment was temporary.
He also said that wage rates of around £5.50p an hour for CE placements were too low. The ILN is seeking a rate of £7.
"For a lot of people, personal assistants are the only alternative to residential care, with all the negative effects that entails." Residential care was also an expensive burden on the State, whereas access to personal assistants could make many people with disabilities net contributors to society.
Twelve per cent of the population had disabilities, and personal assistants would allow many of them "to re-enter the fabric of society".