(Sunday 8 October 2023)
Age Action, Ireland’s leading advocacy organisation for older people, is calling for the government to stop cutting the spending power of the State Pension. Age Action’s analysis that the rate of the State Pension needs to go up €30 per week just to maintain the same spending power that the pension had in 2020.
Once-off payments in recent budgets were welcome, but they did not make up for all the loss of spending power, not everyone got them, and they only lasted for one year. At the start of each year, when the once off payments are gone, older people are faced with the full loss of spending power once again.
Speaking in advance of Budget 2024, Age Action’s Head of Advocacy and Public Affairs Celine Clarke said: “The spending power of the State Pension has been cut in the last three budgets meaning that older people who depend on it are deeply affected. From the start of the inflationary period, both the IMF and OECD recommended fully protecting people reliant on the state for their incomes, but this advice was ignored. The loss of spending power has led to unnecessary hardship and rising poverty levels among older people, at a time when the government has record levels of tax receipts and could well afford to have protected those who rely on the state for very modest incomes. Rather than relying on once-off measures, the government needs to restore the spending power of the state pension to what it was in 2020.”
Clarke continued, “Older people have told us that they are turning off the heating at home, they are cutting down on their food consumption and they are unable to afford to meet friends or to socialise. The loss of spending power in the State Pension is compounded by a loss of spending power in private and occupational pensions and in savings. All of this is causing increasing numbers of older people to become socially excluded. If the government kept the promise to benchmark the State Pension at 34% of average earnings, older people’s incomes would be protected during times of inflation. ”
Age Action’s fully costed pre-budget submission to Government contains 40 proposals including for the state to plan strategically to meet the needs of Ireland’s ageing population, the establishment of a Commissioner for Ageing and Older Persons, to inflation-proof means test thresholds for the Medical Card and other supports, and a widening of the eligibility criteria for the Fuel Allowance.
ENDS
