Mr. Michael Taft:

As I acknowledged in my opening statement, 0.7% is fractional but it is not insignificant. Of course, by 2050 it will be very large. It is also the case that it only makes up a very small percentage of the increase in overall future pension expenditure. For instance, if there is a pension sustainability problem, if it will be a particular size, and if increasing the pension age only gets us approximately 10%, 12% or 14% of the way, that would not get us very far. The problem is this debate has focused almost solely on the pension age. Listening to the public debate, you would think the pension age is the key to pension sustainability. It is not.

Are there other things that can be done that would be more economically efficient and socially equitable? We believe there are. However, ultimately, every legislator, Minister and Government has to make the calculation in respect of whether the benefit arising from the increase forgone outweighs the deficit that would be created if the pension age was increased. That is a judgment call. SIPTU believes that the same things can be achieved without forcing people to work longer to get their pension. In so many cases, the people in question, though they may not be in the most severe, arduous or hazardous occupations, will be in physically demanding occupations, and there will be a toll on their living standards because of that. It is a question of whether there is a better way of achieving the fiscal end while retaining that social good.

I remind members that although we often hear that life expectancy has risen to 20 or 22 years after the pension age of 66, healthy life expectancy, which is a measure used by the European Commission and the World Health Organization and to which we refer in our submission, is approximately ten to 12 years after the age of 66. It will increase in the future but the indications are that the increases in both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy are slowing down. If you take two years off a person whose healthy life expectancy is ten to 12 years, that is a substantial inroad into their living standard. We believe there is a better way of doing it and achieving the same goal of pension sustainability.