Ms Susanne Rogers:

So it is approximately €1,000 a month. What happens when that also has to cover €1,500 for rent? A pension of €2,500 per month is now needed just to be able to put a roof over one's head. His major concern was that the original proposal, which was a benchmark from approximately 1998, was being eradicated and eroded by a much weaker benchmark that did not seem to come from anywhere solid. That was a real concern. Everything goes back to adequacy and deciding what adequacy is. If we all take one step to the left, we need to make sure that everybody can come with us. As inflation rises, wages can still get there, although it might take a little while. That way, at least, we will be keeping in line with that. At the moment, social welfare rates are not grounded in any kind of reality. It is €232 to put a roof over your head. That includes rent. If people are unfortunate enough to be trying to deal with a mortgage, they can forget it. I know the banks encourage people to pay a differential rent rate. It is to put food on the table. It includes your heat bill, light bill, mobile phone, haircut, opticians, doctors, dentists, TV licence - if you are still paying it - bin tags, bus fares, prescriptions, clothes and toiletries. That is an impossibility.