A number of groups representing retired workers and other pensioners is calling on the Government to increase the State pension by more than €50 per week in the coming budget so it meets the 34 per cent of average earnings threshold long regarded as a target to take older people out of poverty.
On Monday, Age Action, the National Women’s Council and Siptu will be among the groups staging an event to highlight their call for the €53 increase they say is required to meet the benchmark this year.
Age Action says a €30 increase would be required simply to restore the spending power provided by the State pension, which currently stands at €265 per week, and it says this is the minimum that should be done in this year’s budget.
“The spending power of occupational and private pensions, and of savings, has declined due to inflation,” says Age Action’s senior public affairs and policy specialist, Nat O’Connor. “There is likely to be a long-term scarring effect on the financial situation of all older persons due to the current period of inflation.
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“Older people have told Age Action that they are finding it harder to make ends meet. Many are telling us that they can no longer afford the essentials. They need the state pensions to be benchmarked to give them some measure of financial security in older age,” he said.
Siptu deputy general secretary, Ethel Buckley, says the number of people living in pension poverty “is growing at an alarming pace” with “tens of thousands” affected.
“A state pension rate of 34 per cent of average earnings means an increase of €53 a week in the state pension while taking the politics out of it once and for all,” she says.
This latter point reflects the findings of the Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-23 report, which described the political nature of annual decisions on pensions increases in Ireland as “atypical” in the EU context, and the 2021 report of the Commission on Pensions, which recommended the establishment of independent body to advise on pension rates.
In its report, the commission noted that while the 34 per cent benchmark figure would previously have been effective at preventing pensioner poverty, there is no guarantee that even it would do so in the future.
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The National Women’s Council says women are more commonly impacted by state pension rates as they are more likely to be dependent on the payments.
A number of Fine Gael TDs have called for increases of around €15 to be applied in this year’s budget to the pension which was increased by €12 last time around.
Responding to a call in the Dáil last month from Joan Collins TD for the 34 per cent benchmark to be provided for, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government had taken a number of other actions to support pensioners including extra payments at Christmas and expanded eligibility for fuel allowance payments.
“I think if you are being fair and accurate, you’d have to acknowledge those increases,” said the Taoiseach. “You can’t just focus on weekly increases and ignore every other increase.”
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, has previously announced planned measures to allow people obtain higher state pensions by working beyond the current eligibility age of 66.
The Pensions Commission estimated in 2021 that an increase of €38 per week to existing payments would cost €1.1 billion per year.
