Elderly people in Carlow who can’t use IT are struggling to access services
Senior man using laptop at home. Image: iStock
ELDERLY people in Carlow who do not have access to or cannot use digital technology are struggling to access services and renew benefits.
At September’s meeting of Bagenalstown Municipal District, Labour cllr Willie Quinn spoke about a 74-year-old man he knows in Tullow. This man lives alone and is currently unable to renew his housing application, which has to be done every two years, as he does not know how to use a computer to fill out the forms to get his benefit payment.
Cllr Quinn said that “there should be someone that can help people like that – people who have no idea how to use a computer or contact Revenue to get the evidence that they need”.
He went on to suggest that someone from the council should be made available to sit with elderly people and help them to fill in such forms. “It would only take 15-20 minutes,” cllr Quinn said.
In response, Carlow Co Council’s senior executive officer for housing Tadhg Madden said: “I see what you are saying, but there is huge GDPR issues there.” GDPR is an EU law that was introduced in 2016 which regulates privacy and how personal data is used online.
Mr Madden stated that when it comes to inputting sensitive personal information, as is the case with a benefits form, it is very difficult to introduce a third party into the equation. “You are sharing information that you are not meant to share,” he said.
He added that the person who was assisting the pensioner could be liable if that information were somehow to be made public.
“We are not making the rules,” he said. “I fully appreciate where you are coming from. It’s frustrating, though. I have had chats with the disability steering group last week over the exact same thing. It is very difficult.”
“Something has to change,” replied cllr Quinn.
