Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I agree that the constant use of arguments around a demographic timebomb to justify a tax on pensions and the retirement age in general is outrageous. The attempt by the State to push out the pension age has had widespread political support and was first designed by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and put into legislation by the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition and it was part of the austerity response. It was also based on the idea that because people are living longer we cannot possibly pay a State pension at 65.

In 2011, in highlighting the significant challenges facing the Irish pension system, Joan Burton said, "The fundamental principle that people need to participate in the workforce for longer needs to be emphasised and they need to contribute more towards their pensions if they are to achieve the income they expect or would like to have in retirement." She said the population aged over 65 was expected to more than double by 2050, increasing from 11% to 26%, because people were living longer and that spending on "social welfare pensions and public service occupational pensions, is projected to increase from approximately 5½ % of GDP in 2008, to almost 15% in 2050." There has been some rowback on the part of this Government with regard to pushing the retirement age out to 67. It has had to do this and to create this commission, which is stacked with safe hands. Of the 11 members of the Pensions Commission, three are civil servants, three are members of IBEC or similar bodies, two have legal backgrounds, two are economists and one is a token representative of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. The Pensions Commission is a way to move this issue out of the political arena and was set up because the parties who came to a coalition deal, namely, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, felt political pressure during the general election.

The attack on the right to a State pension at 66 should be seen as a wider attack on all workers. The right to a State pension at 65 was a big gain won by the working class in the 1970s and all workers should fight today to retain it because those who are workers today will be retired workers tomorrow. We reject the demographic time bomb argument. People do now live longer. That is something to be celebrated rather than a cause of concern or a reason to impose another heap of austerity on people in their retirement. Workers living longer does not mean that those now working are less productive. In fact, while it may have taken five workers to pay the pension of one retired worker and while in the future it may take two or more to do so, the evidence clearly shows that workers are becoming increasingly more productive and that this is not being recognised in their wages or their pensions.

This problem can be addressed by increasing the rate of PRSI paid by employers. Ireland's employers pay one of the lowest rates of PRSI contribution in the EU at just over 10%. In Austria, employers pay 21% while in Germany they pay 45%. The EU average is 21%. We are laggards again and are once again behind. The attack on pensions reflects a wider crisis in the capitalist system. Instead of celebrating the longevity of ordinary people, some see it as something they cannot afford to take any risks with. We need to ensure that the right to retire at 65 is retained and that people can retire with dignity on a liveable income. If that means addressing wider issues such as the wider attack on pensions by employers and our country's status as a low-tax haven by increasing PRSI contributions, that is what should be done.

The auto-enrolment policy of the Government is deeply flawed. It will not deal with the crisis about which the Government talks and will only impose another tax on low-paid workers with no occupational pension. By its nature, it cannot affect workers whose PRSI contributions are so low as to not qualify for anything other than a State contributory pension. The growth of precarious low-paid work indicates how that will affect the current workforce when they are due to retire. This is part of the reason for People Before Profit bringing in the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021 on 30 June. This Bill aims to give retired workers a voice. I hope we will get widespread support for the Bill from across the Dáil. The retired workers to whom I have spoken, some of a cohort of tens of thousands, have a slogan, which is that retired workers are not retired voters. The systemic attack on their pensions since the austerity measures were brought in by the Minister of State's party and by Fianna Fáil when the banking crisis happened has been absolutely punitive on them. It is part of the collective response of this system to retired workers, which is shameful.

See this speech in context