Fianna Fáil likes to think of itself as the party that supports pensioners. They say they will increase pensions to €350 over the term of the next government (that’s up to 2029).
Pensioners should not be conned. Their organisations have been demanding for years that pensions be benchmarked at 34% of average wages.
Indeed, the Government’s ‘Roadmap for Social Inclusion’ published in 2020 said:
“In setting the rate of State pension, Ireland is currently atypical compared to other EU countries in its approach to applying discretionary increases through political decisions in the annual budgetary process …The Government believes a regime of automatic indexation would introduce greater long term certainty for our retirees.”
Pensioners are still waiting.
Average wages are €963 a week. 34% of that would give pensioners €327 a week now.
The Contributory Pension is €277 a week. The Budget increase of €12 would make it €289. The non-contributory pension is even lower.
The official poverty line is €318. No wonder pensioners are living in poverty. Households composed of one adult aged 65 or over had the lowest disposable income in 2023.
The Senior Citizens Parliament has condemned the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael government for its failure to benchmark pensions in the Budget saying: “This country is awash with money and it was well within the remit of the Government to do this even over a phased basis, but they choose not to do so. Shame on them”.
Pensioners can’t wait till 2029. Fianna Fáil in government has failed to protect the incomes of pensioners.
People Before Profit would immediately raise all pensions to €300 and link them to wages from 2026. We would also double the Living Alone Allowance and restore the pension age to 65.