Madam, – Your report on the Irish TimesIpsos/MRBI poll (December 16th) refers to people aged over-65 who have been "largely insulated from cuts". Many older readers may be at a loss as to who your correspondent was referring to.
Was it a reference to the Budget in which the State pension was not cut? If so, then why ignore the cuts to payments for those under-66 but receiving pension payments, the impact of the Universal Social Contribution (especially for those on low incomes), the cuts to the income tax age credit and age exemption or the reductions in public service pensions? The pensioner case study in the your own Budget 2011 supplement reported that the couple would be €1,764 a year worse off.
Maybe it was a reference to recent years? The removal of the automatic entitlement to a medical card for over-70s in 2008 was a major loss for anyone planning to live out their lives in Ireland.
Or perhaps the article was looking at the next four years? The four-year plan agreed by the Government with the EU and the IMF contains further hardship for older people. The elimination of their age tax credits and age exemption, the introduction of a “Fair Deal” scheme of charging for essential community services, based on a person’s income, and a doubling of the carbon tax (although the Government has broken its promise to protect low income households from the impact of the tax on energy prices).
In short, older people have been hit repeatedly. Many commentators have failed to recognise the extent to which cuts have hurt the most vulnerable of older people. To suggest they have been “largely insulated from the cuts” only adds insult to injury. – Yours, etc,