Calls to bring back phone allowance
THE Council has agreed to call on the Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar to reinstate the telephone allowance credit for Old Age Pensioner households.
It was abolished by the Government as part of its austerity programme in January 2014.
In his motion on the issue, Cllr Declan Bree said the “shameful” decision by Fine Gael and Labour to abolish it “further isolated” the elderly.
Cllr Sinead Maguire said the Government had to “make some very difficult cuts” but agreed with Cllr Bree “entirely.”
Cllr Hubert Keaney also agreed and called on phone providers to offer landline packages to older people who “often just want a landline” and not all the additional services.
Cllr Thomas Healy said the phone allowance was “invaluable when it was there and it should come back.”