Deputy’s ideas on heating costs for elderly
Tuesday 22nd February 2011, 2:58PM GMT.
Age concern chairwoman Daphne Minihane
SUGGESTIONS that elderly Islanders struggling with heating bills should take in lodgers or live together to reduce energy costs have been condemned by the head of Age Concern.
The charity’s chairman, Daphne Minihane, said that the suggestions – made by Deputy Rob Duhamel during last week’s States debate on extending the winter fuel allowance – would enrage her members.
In a letter to the JEP published today, Mrs Minihane said that she was seething about the comments.
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It makes me laugh. The elderly that moan about not being able to afford heating are the same ones driving around in new cars, going on holiday, and owning their own homes.
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What a cheek,take in lodgers,you couldn’t make it up.
Why don’t the states members pay for their parking and snacks,if they still don’t.
They should give up their many perks as well and forgo their rises and be means tested as well,as most of these perks they could afford to pay for themselves,without the tax payers money.
Better still make them live on a pensioners rate for a couple of months and see how far it will take them,not a lot left after paying household fuel and other bills.
And those in the states that own farms could take in lodgers,and use the income for heating allowance for the pensioners.
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SUGGESTIONS that elderly Islanders struggling with heating bills should take in lodgers or live together to reduce energy costs have been condemned by the head of Age Concern.
Shame on whoever cam out with some bulls…t like that… Seriously
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What a sweeping generalisation, Sarah – do you have any evidence whatsoever to substantiate your spurious claim?
Because in order to make a comment such as that, you must, must, must know the vast majority of the elderly population and their spening habits.
Would you tell me what you do that affords you this intimate knowledge of 25% of the island population?
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This is one of those rare occasions when I agree completely with Daphne Minihane. Deputy Duhamel’s remarks are insensitive, impractical and frankly stupid.
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No Sarah, its people like my Gran who stops buying food because she is so worried how much her heating bill will be and that she will not have enough money to foot the bill. She hasn’t been on holiday since her honeymoon, she doesn’t drive, lives in a tiny States flat and her only luxuries are her magazines. Surely she has the right to have some support when it comes to surviving a winter?
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Here is an idea Mr Duhamel, dont accept your pay rise, take in lodgers instead .
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If the working population were asked to do this it would be showing initiative but because it is mentioned to a specific group i.e. the elderly it becomes offensive.
As far as I’m aware, lodgers wash their own dishes, sheets and clothes and do their own shopping. In fact who’s to say the lodgers couldn’t do those very things for the elderly for reduced rent? Finally not everyone under retirement age is a monster.
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The man was very foolish to make fun of what is a very serious situation and often a dangerous one for those who don’t have the money for food let alone the price of Jersey gas and electricity – Yes Sarah these people live in Jersey too, try to have some compassion
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#1 Sarah “The elderly that moan about not being able to afford heating are the same ones driving around in new cars, going on holiday, and owning their own homes.”
I take it you have documentary evidence to support such a crass statement, Sarah?
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I actually think these suggestions are reasonable because some of these pensioners could make a wad by sub-letting.
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paul(11) most elderly on their own, i would say would not want a lodger, some may welcome the company.
and their childeren , if they had any are allready at the limit with rent or a mortgage, taxes , the general high cost of living.
they worked hard in the boom times of jersey, and are now cast aside, and have a pitance to live on . many may not have a gold plated pension as they raised their kids and purchased a home , with no help from anybody.
many who have money in the bank for a rainy day have seen the return on investment, plummet, along with the bank interest rate .
the high cost of energy, was totaly un forseen. they should get help.
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For many hard working people, the only way of financing the purchase or rental of a house is to take in lodgers.
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Deputy Duhamel’s comments need to be taken in context. I suspect that he was commenting on the fact that many elderly people end up living in houses that are much larger than they can afford to heat properly – so his suggestion of sharing or lodgers has some merit if it allows the person to remain in their own home whilst being able to afford to heat it.
State support for heating should first be targetted at making the properties better at retaining heat by installing insulation. I believe that there is a programme in place that is already doing this.
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Bigger Picture @14 “Deputy Duhamel’s comments need to be taken in context”
I’ll bear this principle in mind next time I hear one of Gaddhafi’s speeches. Meanwhile, I’m glad that I’m not yet reduced to sharing body heat with the Deputy.
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Mrs Flymo senior lets a room out in her house. There is no big deal and the money she receives in rent pays her bills.
Simples.
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The good Deputy has a very nice house and enjoys all the benefits of being a States Member, so this statement belongs in the “Let them eat cake” category. But given the nature & calibre of our elected leadership, this callous and cynical attitude is no surprise. Lets hope the next elections have some surprises for a change!
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cancer
Posted February 22, 2011 at 5:00 pm
This is one of those rare occasions when I agree completely with Daphne Minihane. Deputy Duhamel’s remarks are insensitive, impractical and frankly stupid.
I agree… Duhamel is another has been politician.
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What a ludicrous idea.Some old people are vulnerable enough without having strangers in the house who could be far more trouble than their worth.Quite honestly it makes me sick to read some of the bitter comments on these forums and now this crazy suggestion from a States member make me glad I’m out of Jersey!
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Mrs Minihane always seems to comment in a knee jerk way to the extent that I think that she rarely consults her members before she speaks
There was certainly no discussion in this case
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We worked and saved hard to buy our own home, both myself and my wife have been forced through circumstance to accept jobs paying less than we previously earnt. That said we consider ourselves fortunate to be employed in the present climate. Realising that we couldn’t afford to continue paying the mortgage we advertised for a lodger. We interviewed a number of professional people and now have a lovely lady lodge with us, it has enabled us to retain the home we worked so hard to own.
For us it is simply a means to enable us to continue living in the home we saved so hard to have. We are not rich, we earn below the average wage for a couple. I don’t see why the suggestion is so abhorrant, if you are struggling financially and have the means to increase your income then do so.
If the group being discussed were any other than the elderly no one would bat an eye.
Mrs Minihane if you want to be taken seriously then you should pick your fights and not squawk at every comment levelled at our aging population.
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A total lack of respect…and unfortunately, that’s the problem with the world these days!
If it wasn’t for these elderly people, you wouldn’t be living in the way we do today!
Jersey gone mad! PURE GREED
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Mulvie Le Phew #21
Well said!
If people took long hard looks at their potential income before shouting I want benefits there would be more left in the pot to assist the genuine needy.
Perhaps the potential income from ones house, Lodgers, and renting out the garden as a vegetable plot etc should be part of a means test?
I have no problem with my hard earned tax money helping out the genuine needy, but get vexed when I see it given away to those who could do a bit more for themselves.
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I assume you all have evidence to prove your previous claims on other articles that all those in housing are getting vast amoutns of benefits or that all parents are lazy layabouts who only have kids for the money they get.
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@24 Sarah
I don’t think it has been said that “all those in housing are getting vast amounts of benefits”, however it has been recently announced publicly the financial benefits of being on … err … umm … benefits.
And I know someone in States accommodation, doesn’t work and whose children are coming to the end of their schooling and has tried to become pregnant … for obvious reasons…
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Deputy Duhamel`s comments were backed up by Deputy Wimberly, two less for me to consider come the elections!
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And i know elderly people who are living it up and yet complaining. So if its ok for everyone else to do it i will lump people in the same.
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“Deputy Duhamel`s comments were backed up by Deputy Wimberly, two less for me to consider come the elections!”
Oh no you can’t,as both are deputys you will only have 1 vote & thats if you are resident in one of their districts!!Bring on senators with island wide vote THEN you could vote not for them.
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That is disgusting to suggest that the elderly either get someone in to live (this is putting them at risk due to fraudster & thief’s and to considering sharing is outrageous) What happened to the states when they say all islanders to look after the elderly what about the states reducing the bills for them after all the state members wouldn’t where they are only for our older generation looking after us with the occupation. We all wouldn’t be where we are in this day & age.
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I have just bought a house and to help with paying the mortgage, i have let out a room. Its a simple and practical way to make such things affordable.
Im not saying i agree with the comments made but its common place in jersey to sub let to pay the rent/mortgage/bills. that applies to everyone not just elderly.
However this is not a viable solution for everyone, i understand that. Someone living in a 1 bed states flat, hardly has any options to sub-let.
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absolutely outrageous that any states member should DARE SUGGEST that anybody take steps to look after themselves before claiming benefits. Next they’ll be saying that states tenants should give up Sky TV to feed their children. No, its the States job to pay for the old and the young, can’t they even understand THAT?
Good on you Daphne, you know we are all ENTITLED to a HANDOUT whether we need it or NOT.
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Jersey Boy @30, well done for letting a room , i also imagine you inform the income tax dept re your unearned income?
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They should also burn their furniture and any books aswell.
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Robert Duhamel is an idiot! End of. He brings nothing substantive to the table. He – like so many of the hobby “politicians” that get voted into the States – is a light-weight.
The idea that pensioners should join forces and live together in elderly communes to save money on energy bills is absolutely ridiculous.
Maybe if he hadn’t voted against exemptions on GST, he wouldn’t have to come up with such a great money-saving ideas. I can’t wait to hear more of his great ideas!
What’s next? Pensioners should have one day in the week when they don’t eat anything at all. Surely that would keep their food bills down! What about separating the ply paper on toilet rolls. That’ll save them some pence.
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What planet are you coming from Sarah number !.
I see the elderly and if you open your eyes so would you. I shall help you out a bit here and indicate to you where a lot of them are.
When you walk through town next the elderly are the one’s who walk to the side, the one’s that go unnoticed often struggling, some hunched over keeping to the side of the precinct to ensure they are not knocked over by the rush.
When you walk through the market rather than look at the produce on sale in the front walk behind the stall where the out dated fruit and veg is and there you will always see an elderly person going through it to buy it for a reduced price.
Here is just two examples of our elderly managing on next to nothing.
So dear Sarah when you pass these elderly people buy why not give them a smile as I always do because I tell you what their faces light up because someone has taken a fraction of time to smile or even say hello and have some respect. And before you come back with some fancy quip if they do have a car and are able to drive. Why shouldn’t they have what they have worked hard and paid for. Stop generalising as there are many very poor elderly people out there.
As for you saying you know people with the way your writing I am shocked that anyone would want to know you.
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Sarah – hopefully when you get old you will not have to worry about paying your heating bill.
Older people are vunerable and shouldn’t take in lodgers. It’s sad to read that they worry so much about their heating bill and stop buying food.
If the States didn’t waste our money on excessive salaries and the like there wouldn’t be a problem in extending the heating allowance.
They haven’t got their priorities right and probably never will!
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“Older people are vunerable and shouldn’t take in lodgers”
On the other hand, do we want an Island of pensioners being given handouts while living in large empty houses? Is our housing supply so huge we can afford to subsidise those who have many unused rooms in their home?
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On the other hand if Jersey adopted the Scandinavian way of doing things the retired would have a proper pension, they wouldn’t need state help to see out their sunset years and they wouldn’t be at risk of dying of hypothermia due to trying to make ends meet without taking state money (which they are entitled to if they fall into the right bracket).
Also if companies had proper pension schemes this would go a long way to resolving this issue.
However as we know it is about tax avoidance and cutting corners. No wonder the island is in a mess.
As for those slagging off the elderly you will get there if you don’t die of stress first due in large part to the activity which masquerades as work these days. Then you too can end up getting slagged off as a waste of space by the next generation.
As per moving home later in life this can be very traumatic and can actual kill them due to the shock of moving to another place.
DB Sarah is a certain well know troll’s alter ego so best ignore it.
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Adrian – if you are referring to me, then you are mistaken, however I wholeheartedly agree with her comments. As with anyone who had the courage to add a dose of reality to the debate.
Sarah: Only the couraegous tell it liek it is, the rest pander to the crap political correctness brigade – they are best ignored.
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Mr Sensible #32
I rent a room out too.
It pays my utility bills thanks.
The lodger has now been with us 6 years and has almost become one of the family.
AND YES I DO DECLARE THIS INCOME TO THE TAX DEPT
I take your generalisation that people do not as an insult.
You may have low morals, I do not.
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Rabbit, cause of death moving house? Hmmm.
Bigger picture here. More people living longer, healthier lives. Cost of healthcare huge, because everyone thinks they have the right to every drug and medical procedure going. Working population facing difficult times, particularly as Sky keep putting their subscriptions up. Worldy wealth moving East so when we emerge from the current economic difficulties, we are likely to be less well off than we were before against our ridiculously high expectations of “living standards”. Anyone showing entrepreneurial spirit and creating wealth for themselves and jobs for their fellow human beings quickly labelled as Tax Dodgers – let’s tax them more!!
Many things have got to change, many, many things. Should any segment of our society be exempt? Once you have reached 65, do you have a God-given right to living your life exactly how you want to live it, for say thirty more years, come what may? I think we all have a contribution to make, some sacrifice to give, and if that means an elderly person giving shelter to someone who needs it at a fair rent in a house with the space to do so, well, at least this should be considered. Problem is that whenever you suggest anything that might in any way affect the elderly, up pipe the usual suspects to try to stifle debate.
yes, yes, we’ll all be old one day. Problem is we can no longer afford everything we want. Period.
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