Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for allowing me to use some of her time. I did not realise it was a case of first-up, best-dressed. I thought the usual way we apply party slots would be operative. In any case, I thank Deputy Smith. It is much appreciated. I agree with many of the perspectives the Deputy presented and those of others here. From a workers' perspective and a broader fiscal perspective, there is no clear rationale for the kind of rises in the pension age that are planned. This is not 2012. The fiscal situation is different, as it is in Northern Ireland. I hope Sinn Féin colleagues will reflect on that and change the position in the North they voted for in 2012.

Our position in the Labour Party could not be clearer and has not changed since the general election of 2020. I have been writing since well before 2020 about the need to take a step back and reflect on this in the context of the fiscal and demographic situation. Compared to European norms, we are going faster and further in this country in terms of planned increases to the pension age than countries we like to compare ourselves to across the European Union.

I congratulate comrades and colleagues from SIPTU who have campaigned incredibly hard and well on the basis that we should STOP67. That term entered the narrative in the 2020 election. It shows the power of trade unions and organised labour and the importance of trade unions in the political and economic debate in this country. We should never lose sight of that. I congratulate them on the campaign they fought. This is a great success. It should be a turning point in relation to the Government's agenda on the pensions area.

I congratulate Deputy Naughten on a significant, rational, legible and important report in terms of influencing public debate in an informed way about the reality of pensions and demographics.

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