THE GOVERNMENT can take little credit for its crass handling of the decision to deny 70-year-olds an automatic right to medical cards. It has slightly altered the income threshold, yet it says it is "standing firm". Societal decisions are being made on the run, with one eye on the haranguing Government TDs can expect when they return to their constituencies this weekend.
One of the principles of good social policy is to reassure the vulnerable and to buttress citizens when they leave the workforce or are discommoded through illness or frailty. The research shows that many older people lead happy, healthy and fulfilling lives. However, for others there is illness, insecurity and fear for the future. A civilised society would strive to allay such distress, if for nothing else than respect for those who lived through the decades when Ireland had a limp economy and little social justice.
The over-70s entitlement was first devised in 2001 by the Fianna Fáil-led government as a pre-election sop. It was badly planned. The number of beneficiaries was grossly underestimated. The cost mounted also because the Irish Medical Organisation demanded that GPs treating the new beneficiaries should get treble the payment for those who previously held medical cards.
Aside from this ineptitude there was little thought within government about the equity of the scheme. Proponents of the medical card extension to the over 70s said that it would encourage the elderly, particularly reluctant males, to visit their GPs. There is some evidence that this has happened with marked improvement in preventive care uptake. It is also clear that many new recipients felt reinforced by the measure. Indeed, the medical card has come to be seen as a singular benefit for older people, as did the earlier introduction of free travel.
There needs to be clarity and a determination to dispel justified apprehensions. Ministers and senior civil servants with high incomes can sometimes forget that form-filling, bureaucracy and means testing are an anathema for many vulnerable people. They intrude and, at their worst, subdue and disempower.
In a society with fair social provision, advocates for older people such as Age Action Ireland and the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament would not be organising protests after budget announcements. Community welfare officers would not have to cope with what has been termed as a logistical nightmare. The Governments performance has deeply affected many older people.