allowed to retire in comfort.

And Sir John said it is the duty of everyone in the community to help older folk when necessary.

He was replying to a Parliamentary appeal by Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward for certain pension benefit forms to be made easier to understand.

Mr. Hayward said that pensioners could not always rely on family and friends to help them out if they did not understand a complicated form.

He said: "For some people a pension is a nice little nest-egg, for others it is all they know.

"People in the twilight of their lives need assistance, not barriers placed before them. Some of these forms are difficult to understand for anyone, but especially for a person who is now experiencing a little mental delay.'' It is often difficult for families to help older relatives because they do not want to hurt their dignity, according to the Pembroke West Central member. Mr.

Hayward said: "The Government should be more careful in these particular categories and make sure that people are not penalised because they are unable to follow a bureaucratic step.'' He said that the Government should look into cases when forms are not returned. He said they probably had hundreds or even thousands of dollars which should have gone to pensioners.

Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said that there was a system to check on people without families.

But he said: "In this country there is still such a thing as a family unit.

It's something that happened in society, children look after their parents.'' The Premier said he believed that bureaucratic barriers should be removed for pensioners.

Sir John said: "Over the years we have increased pensions so we can increase the comfort they enjoy in later life. We have raised the money to a level where it is useful.

"Many societies see their senior citizens out on the streets or shut away in rest homes but, in Bermuda, we are lucky that a lot of our senior citizens are living in the home that their husband built or that they acquired together.

"We owe them a debt of gratitude for producing what is the finest place that one could live and bringing up their children. They should expect a comfortable life in retirement and passing on to another world.''