Age & Opportunity has made a detailed pre-budget submission. Our recommendations focus on ensuring that the rights of older people to fully participate in all areas of society are realised.
The recommendations reflect what we have learned from participants in our programmes this year in the areas of arts, physical activity, lifelong learning and civic engagement.
We reiterate the call for the Government to establish a Commissioner for Ageing and Older People, a call originally made by the Alliance of Age Sector NGOs, of which Age & Opportunity is a member, at Leinster House on 25th January.
Our pre-budget submission, which is available here, includes specific recommendations about:
- pension reform
- ‘ageing in place’ – supporting older people to live in their own home with dignity and independence for as long as possible
- Age-friendly public spaces
- Digital equality
- Meaningful activities in care
- Equal Access to the Arts
Mary Harkin, Age & Opportunity Policy, Research &Evaluation Manager said: “Underpinning our submission this year is a view that Budget 2024 is a unique opportunity for Government to address infrastructural deficits that compromise quality of life for many older persons.
“Using some of the current unprecedented corporate tax revenue, this budget could begin to level up by improving housing conditions and options, investing in the infrastructural elements of community care and support, improving digital access nationwide, increasing the accessibility of indoor and outdoor public spaces and accelerating sustainable energy production.
“We will not always have this bounty so it should be spent on exceptional initiatives that will add value to more sustainable allocations in this and future budgets.”
