Many older people with pendant alarms or security systems, rely on their home phone-line to connect to a telecare monitoring centre. However with the removal of the previous telephone allowance (which was discontinued from 1 January 2014) some older people could no longer afford telephone line rental charges. As a result many cancelled their home phone service.
This also meant their lifeline pendant alarm monitoring service would no longer work.
Therefore today’s Budget 2018 announcement of a new weekly telephone support of €2.50 for those in receipt of both the living alone allowance and the fuel allowance, is great news for many pensioners who rely on their home phone-line for their pendant alarm service.
Although GSM (SIM-based) pendant alarms and telecare devices are available for people with no home phone-line, the monthly contracts for these SIM-card based telecare systems, generally cost significantly more than a standard telecare monitoring contract. And although the GSM pendant alarm units can be grant funded under the Seniors Alert Scheme, the SIM-card contracts required for these telecare alarms to work, are not included in Seniors Alert Scheme funding (at the time of writing).
As a result of today’s reinstatement of the telephone allowance, it’s therefore great to know that more elderly and vulnerable people in Ireland, will be able to continue to avail of affordable 24-hour monitoring for their pendant alarms and/or other telecare devices.
Related:
RTE | Telephone allowance cut blamed for fall in uptake of Seniors Alert System
Telecare.ie | Seniors Alert Scheme – Funding for monitored alarms
To find out more about pendant alarms and telecare devices including analogue, broadband and GSM (SIM-based) telecare units & the associated 24-hour monitoring service, please contact our Sponsor, TASK Community Care.