The Government was urged yesterday to give pensioners a special mobile phone allowance in the December budget. The call came from Mr Michael Mulcahy, the Dublin South Central by-election candidate for Fianna Fail. He also appealed to the Government to increase the weekly pension to £100 in the Budget.
Mr Mulcahy said mobile phones eliminated the need to either climb downstairs or move from one room to another. "This is a vital convenience, especially for those elderly people who use a stick, a walking frame or are wheelchair-bound," he said.
The Fine Gael by-election candidate, Ms Catherine Byrne, called on the Government to increase survivor's payments for widows to £100 a week by the year 2002. The widow's pension is currently £77.10 a week for those under 66 and £82.10 for those aged over 66.
Ms Byrne said she was shocked by the hardship suffered by many whose deceased spouses had been their household's sole earner.
The Labour Party candidate, Dr Mary Upton, called for new measures to be introduced to deal with refuse and street litter over bank holiday weekends.
"While people working in the refuse services are entitled to their bank holiday, some provisions need to be put in place to keep our city clean over bank holiday weekends in particular," she said.
The Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, visited Dublin South Central yesterday and urged voters to show their anger at revelations of Government corruption and mismanagement by voting for the party candidate, Mr Aengus O Snodaigh.
Commenting on the peace process, Mr Adams said that while a small chance of breaking the current impasse remained, it could happen only if the political will was there among all parties.
"Sinn Fein is committed to moving the process forward. This week will show if our commitment is matched by other parties," he declared.
Nine candidates are contesting the by-election, in which voting takes place tomorrow. More than 80,000 people in the constituency are registered to vote, but a turnout as low as 35 per cent is predicted by all party workers.