The chairman of Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch, Joe Tobin has slammed the Budget cut which sees the small monthly allowance towards telephone landlines taken from the elderly.

Pointing out that between 160 and 170 elderly people around the district rely on monitored alarms which are operated by means of the telephone, he said people have been contacting him to express their disappointment and concern at the withdrawal of the allowance.

“Older people have been hit very badly in this budget, between the cut in this allowance and the hike in prescription charges. It’s a disgrace. I’m calling on all of our area TDs to take a stand against this and lobby for it to be reversed. We are trying to keep our elderly in their own homes and out of nursing homes for as long as possible but measures like this don’t help. We feel as a group that the Government had to go very low to take this €9.50 a month – it’s not much of a saving,” the community activist said.