Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I used to stand in this position when Deputy Dermot Ahern was the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. His target was £100 per week for the contributory State pension. In the era of the Celtic tiger we went past that. I tried to get him to commit to having the State pension as a high percentage, perhaps 35% to 40%, of the average industrial wage. Deputy Ahern refused to do so while he was the Minister. I refer to Professor Eamon O'Shea's fine study Older & Bolder. Is it not true that there is a 27% risk of poverty if the older cohort is examined? Are we still not the lowest of the EU 15 in terms of income support? An area that impinges on the Minister's portfolio is the growing danger of fuel poverty. It was stated in that study that senior citizens in Ireland are at greater risk of dying of hypothermia than their counterparts in Finland. It is astonishing that an Irish man or woman is at greater risk of dying of hypothermia than a person living in Finland with its harsh, long and dark winters. This is an indictment of the Government which, following 11 years in power, has not addressed fundamental issues of income support.

Some six, seven or eight years ago there was much talk about our finally coming to grips with the pension issue through the provision of an adequate three-legged pension for senior citizens. Is it not the case that the Government frittered away all of the money of the Celtic tiger on all kinds of madcap schemes initiated by the former Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern? Eleven years on, the Government still has not addressed the fundamental issue of pensions, which will be a serious problem for this country when the so-called baby boomers begin to reach retirement age. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Hanafin, now has responsibility for addressing these matters and, in particular, the sufferings of a significant number of senior citizens under her Administration.

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