Older people should be represented at future social partnership negotiations and be given a "fair pension" proportionate to the average industrial wage, according to a declaration of rights for the elderly published yesterday.
Drawn up by National Association of Widows in Ireland and the People's College in Dublin, the declaration sets out 10 basic rights aimed at reducing marginalisation and improving standards of care for the elderly.
Entitled "The Declaration of Older Persons' Rights for the New Millennium", it was prepared to coincide with the United Nations International Year of Older Persons, which was commemorated last year.
Introducing the document, the Minister of State for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ms Mary Wallace, said that older people had contributed to today's buoyant economy and were "entitled to the rights and benefits of it".
Ms Wallace said that the Government was specifically committed to increasing the State pension to £100 a week.
Ms Sheila Conroy, president of the People's College, said that hundreds of elderly people had contributed to the document through seminars in Portlaoise last November and in Dublin four months ago.
"Older people want to be treated as equals", Ms Conroy said. "They should be participants in social partnership arrangements. They should be on State boards. Because we are moving towards a more ageing society, their voice and experience can and must be seen to make a useful contribution in all aspects of society."
Other concerns raised at the seminars were a shortage of hospital beds, ward closures, a shortage of nurses to help elderly people who were incapacitated, hazardous boarding platforms at railway stations and poor access to public buildings for those with mobility problems.
A report on the seminars, which accompanied the declaration, stated: "There is still ample evidence of the scales of justice being tilted against the elderly and much work has yet to be done."
The 10 rights of the elderly listed in the declaration are:
to be involved as contributors in the creation of social partnership schemes;
to live safe and comfortable lives in an environment shielded from violence and annoyance;
the right to have access to appropriate accommodation;
to feel proud of their age and not be marginalised because they are elderly;
to obtain a fair pension, structured to be proportionate to the prevailing average social wage, which will provide a dignity to life;
to obtain work, if they wish, with due recognition of their lifelong experience;
to have access to free or low-cost training schemes appropriate to current requirements in the workplace and which do not incur penalties;
to have access to quality medical care, regardless of accommodation status;
to a continuing quality of life and extended life expectancy;
to representation in all aspects of legislation affecting society.
