Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Sinn Féin is opposed to sections 6 and 7. The right to a pension is a long-standing Irish republican principle. The 1919 democratic programme promised to provide for the care of the nation's aged and infirm "who shall not be regarded as a burden but rather entitled to the nation's gratitude and consideration". All those who subscribe to this principle must defend and extend, rather than cut, social protections for older people.

Section 6 deals with the transition to the State pension tand as such takes the first step in raising the pension age to 66 years. This will affect people on low incomes who will not have occupational or private pensions or savings and, therefore, will have no choice but to continue working until the later age. Wealthy individuals will continue to have the option of retiring on private savings or pension income. Those on lower incomes tend to be in more manual or blue collar employment which takes a greater toll on the body physically, particularly in later life. Some people's contracts are scheduled to expire at the age of 65 years. It is madness to expect the people concerned to receive job seekers' benefit at that stage of their lives. Forcing older people to remain in employment will mean there will be fewer jobs for young people and all those forced to emigrate. It is simply not possible to make 50-year predictions about the ratios of pensioners to workers and State pension affordability. There are too many volatile factors to consider, including, for example, the level of employment, the level of migration, birth trends and the rate of economic growth.

Paying the State pension would be affordable for many years into the future if the Government were to standardise tax reliefs on private pension contributions and lower the cap on pension contributions to €75,000. This amounts to a cut of 16% in State pension entitlements. Such a change is utterly opposed by lobby groups for the elderly such as the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Older and Bolder, Age Action, as well as by the trade unions, including SIPTU, which rightly claim it will lead to the creation of poverty traps. Older workers' contracts will expire at 65 years when they will be pushed onto the dole queues. Jobseekers in the 50 years plus age category who have lost their jobs are finding it difficult to find new employment, despite actively seeking it. People will also be forced to spend the final years of their working lives on the dole, following a lifetime of paying taxes, building the nation and creating the wealth we are passing on to foreign bankers.

The level of poverty among older people, particularly among those living alone and those who do not own their home, is unacceptably high. According to an ESRI report on poverty levels published last year, 24% of older people living alone remain in poverty, as are 23% of older people with disabilities. The State pension and associated benefits are the single most effective tool in reducing the level of poverty among this group. The statistics demonstrate that the increases in the State pension between 2004 and 2007 were a key factor at the time in reducing the level of poverty among older people. According to the report, Measured or Missed? Poverty and Deprivation Among Older People in a Changing Ireland, published by Older and Bolder last October, 84% of older people aged 65 to 74 years were living in relative poverty before social transfers, namely, the State pension and associated benefits. The report's author, Professor Mary Daly, concluded, having looked at the position of older people vis-a-vis other sectors of the population, that their heavy reliance on the State pension as a means of staying out of poverty was striking. The fact that income poverty rates among older people have come down underlines the importance of having a decent State pension as having a pension plays a key role in keeping people out of poverty. Almost three quarters of those aged over 65 years receive three quarters or more of their income by way of social transfers. That is how important the pension is to them.

If older people are forced to go on jobseeker's payments instead of a contributory pension, they will be hit by a cut of €42 per week. If they are forced to go on jobseeker's payments instead of a non-contributory pension, they will be hit by a cut of €31 per week. They will be excluded from the fuel allowance and the household benefits package which are available to those on pensions. The fuel allowance is worth €20 per week for 32 weeks and the household benefits package is worth €160 for a television licence, €26 per month for the telephone, 24,000 units of electricity, €40 for bottled gas each month or €52 every two months in the summer, or €111 for natural gas every two months in the winter.

Older people are already disproportionately hit by the effects of fuel poverty. Between 1,500 and 2,000 avoidable deaths occur each year as a result of the extremes of winter. This literally becomes a question of survival and the €40 per week basic cut, coupled with the loss of the fuel allowance and the household benefits package, will push many older people under.

Jobseeker payments are below the poverty line so anyone who votes for this Bill is voting to condemn swathes of older people to poverty. The pension age is being raised, with almost zero comment appearing in the media. Most people out there have no idea their pension is being cut by 16% and their working life extended by three years, as we speak. This contrasts starkly with the public response in France and Slovenia. The media in particular need to wake up to this assault on older people. The right to a pension is a fundamental workers' right, and it must be seen as such. Resistance to any attack on the basic pension entitlements of ordinary workers should be a priority for the trade union movement. It is certainly a priority for Sinn Féin.