#GE16 – You ask the questions – part 3

The Limerick Post is involving ordinary Limerick voters in our General Election coverage.

Representatives of different areas of Limerick society will get the opportunity to question the first 16 declared candidates on their policies and promises.

Paul Walsh  Senior Citizen, Limerick city

I came to Limerick from Dublin in July 1964 and married Phil in 1970. She is also from Dublin. We bought a house in Raheen in 1971 and are still there.

We have four children, all of whom are happily married and they have given us seven grandchildren. For more than 40 years, I worked for the Texaco oil company taking early retirement in October 1997.

Shortly after arriving in Limerick, I joined the orchestra of the Cecilian Musical Society and played for several shows untiI work and home duties forced me to give it up. It was always my desire to be involved in activities that I believed were necessary to protect and advance causes that were of benefit to people.

I served as a member of the union committee in Texaco until promotion to Manager, which was a non-union position, compelled me to resign from the union. In Raheen, I became involved in the residents association and the neighbourhood watch both of which are now virtually extinct.

My father had a stroke in 1977 and ended up in a wheelchair. He came to live with us in Limerick. Through him, I became involved in the Limerick Branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association.

“I became a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics around 1989 and served as secretary of the Mid West Branch for about two years. I am a member of the Limerick Regional Probus Club since its foundation in 1997. The club affiliated to the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament in 2000 and initially I became the club’s representative to it. We now have two representatives from the club on the Limerick Division of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament.

At present I am associated with the Limerick Seniors Forum where we are  preparing a pre-election campaign to try to retrieve some of the benefits that seniors have lost and reduce the severe impositions that seniors have had to endure since the current period of austerity began”.

Q 1 Are you in favour of issuing medical cards to all seniors over 75 years of age?

Q2 Would you support giving full State pensions and the over 80’s allowance to women who couldn’t pay for pension entitlements in their own right?

Q3 Would you restore the telephone allowance to seniors living alone?

Richard O’Donoghue (Ind) 

1) Yes – with the proviso that individual circumstances are considered.

2)Yes – but again with the proviso that individual circumstances are considered.

3) Yes. I have worked tirelessly to set up Community Alert systems around County Limerick and everyone must feel safe in their home.

James Heffernan (Social Democrats) 

1) I think the medical card application criteria needs to be changed so that seniors over 70 are assessed on the basis of their net income. This would make it much easier for people with large medical bills to qualify.

2) As a matter of social justice, we have to reform the State Pension entitlement criteria to reflect time out of workforce. This includes providing for women who took time out to care for children and other family members and couldn’t as a result pay for pension entitlements in their own right.

3) Absolutely! This was a mean cut and I firmly believe that the telephone allowance should be restored as a matter of urgency.

Kieran O’Donnell (FG)

1) Everyone over 70 can avail of a GP visit card. Full medical cards are available to over 70s based on a means test as well as a discretionary card on medical grounds. However, an easier system should apply for people over 75, many of whom have major medical needs.

2)This is an issue which is arising more and more frequently. It does need to be addressed for these women.