Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The vast majority of people at the age of 64 and 65 are not going to get another job. Earlier today I talked to Tommy Nolan from Pearse Street who said his heart was broken from applying for jobs. It is demoralising for him. He knows he is being rejected for jobs because he is 64 years of age. At a time when citizens should be able to take the foot off the gas, this Government wants them to sign on the dole.

It is a charade and the Government is forcing older people to take part in it. To make matters worse, the Government wants them to take part in it for less money than they would get in their pensions. Talk about rubbing salt in their wounds. If people want to retire at 65 or 66 then that should be their choice and they should be allowed take into consideration their physical and mental health and family circumstances. They must also have the choice to work on if they wish.

Dr. Tony Fahey, professor of social policy at UCD, raised the issue of home ownership and pension poverty in November 2018. He wrote:

Householders aged 25-34 had a high level of home ownership for their age in 1991 (69%), but today that proportion has fallen to just 30% ... [Among] those aged 35-44, home ownership has fallen from 82% in 1991 to 62% today. If this growth in private rentals continues in its current form [which it has since Dr. Fahey wrote this], it is likely to cause many young adults to be worse off than their parents as far as housing is concerned.

He also made the point that the social welfare system in Ireland is based on the assumption that pensioners do not have to pay rent and do not have significant mortgage repayments. Bearing in mind Dr. Fahey's comments two years ago and the current generation not being able to purchase houses or purchasing them later in life, these people will have to pay rent or mortgages out of their pensions, something the current crop of pensioners does not have to do.

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