ELDERLY people should be means-tested to see who can afford to pay more, like the rest of us, insists a Cork East TD.
Deputy Tom Barry today defended the comments of Minister of State Brian Hayes, who caused a furore in recent days by saying that some well-off pensioners could possibly have some cuts imposed in the upcoming budget as they had come through the economic recession with their incomes intact.
His comments caused Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton to issue a reassurance that the forthcoming budget would not target the elderly, saying she was “non-plussed” why Minister Hayes would concentrate on that section of society.
Minister Hayes was in Doneraile, north Cork yesterday to officially open the tea rooms in Doneraile Park, where he described the furore as a “storm in a tea cup”.
And he was defended by Cork East TD Tom Barry, who told the Evening Echo that even elderly people realised that regardless of age, people had to be means- tested for benefits.