Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin's alternative budget 2017 proposals put forward a package of measures for older people that included a rise in the basic pension and raising the living alone allowance. Other proposed measures included reinstating the State pension transition and we would have also restored the pension bands to their pre-2012 rates. The focus of reinstating the pension bands was to address a major inequality for pensioners. Under the Government's budget women remain at a particular disadvantage on retirement. The changes made to pension bands by the Fine Gael and Labour Government resulted in thousands of people, predominantly

women, finding their weekly payment short of expectations come retirement age. This meant that a pre-2012 pensioner could get a pension of some €30 higher than a post-2012 pensioner with the same contributions. The Government knew this - the measure has been in place since 2012 - and still it has failed utterly to act in the interests of this group.

Sinn Féin raised the anomaly of the State pension transition in our alternative budget. It has not been acted upon in this Bill, but we proposed to reinstate the State pension transition which was abolished in 2014. The current situation leaves people, who are faced with forced retirement at the age of 65, to claim jobseeker's payment - with its various obligations. These people should not have to face this. They have worked all their lives. They deserve and are entitled to their pension but this Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Government believe that these people are not permitted to their well-earned pension in the later stage of their lives as they look forward to their retirement. What will the €5 rise mean to those people, predominantly women, affected by the changes in contributions in 2012? What will it mean to those pensioners forced on the dole queue come the age of 65? We hope the Government will address these changes and put them right. It is awfully disappointing that the Government has not addressed these measures in the Bill but hopefully it will see the error of its ways, see that women are those who are predominantly affected by this and bring in measures to correct it.

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