Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome. I am here today because I want to raise a specific related matter, which is the planned increase in the pension age the year after next to 67. I know that the joint committee asked the Minister on an all-party basis to pause this decision. The report recommended that the Minister review the disparity between the retirement age and pension age and that the proposed increases in pensionable age should be suspended. I do not know if the Minister is aware that at the recent SIPTU biannual conference, which is a conference of the largest union in the country with about 180,000 members, this was the biggest issue. The union has decided that it will campaign vigorously in the run up to the election next year and ask all parties to pause this increase for the very simple reason that it is grossly unfair. This affects people who have worked for a living all of their lives. I am thinking of SIPTU colleagues working in security, contract cleaning and manufacturing, most of whom have no private pension provision. When it comes to the age of 66, they are then told that as their retirement age falls the following year, they must work for a further 12 months.

A myth has grown up around demographics in this country. I will set the record straight with regard to that. Ireland's current pension age of 66 stands in contrast to an EU average of 64 yet we have far fewer older people, nearly 30% less than other EU countries. The Government intends to increase the pension age to 68 by 2028. The OECD projects that based on current policies, the average EU pension age will only rise to 66 by mid-century. The Government intends to increase the pension faster than almost any other European country even though in 50 years' time, Ireland will still have the lowest number of older people, nearly 20% less than other EU countries. We have far fewer older people but we have and will continue to have one of the highest pension ages in the EU. There is no logic in this unless it is seen by Government as a crude revenue-saving measure introduced at the expense of retired workers.I will quote from a number of those workers from the SIPTU conference. One, who is a co-operative store worker, said he would be retiring in 2026 but would not get the State pension until 2028. While he would get jobseeker's benefit for the first year, he then would have to rely on a meagre workplace pension, which was reduced by 25% during the downturn. He will be obliged to spend whatever lump sum he gets to survive. A second worker, who is a processor in the dairy industry, noted that although he had paid his taxes and PRSI all his working life, he will either be in poverty or be forced to continue working in a physically demanding job after he becomes 65. The facts as outlined tell us that we do not need to raise the pension age the year after next. The Minister's own Oireachtas joint committee has asked the Minister to pause this. There is something fundamentally unfair about a Minister who will receive a gold-plated pension deciding to deprive tens of thousands of workers of their pensions across the State who have worked all of their lives.

I ask the Minister, on behalf of all of the members of SIPTU and all of those who are due to retire, to listen to the Oireachtas joint committee, listen to the facts and pause that decision. Otherwise, she will face this issue on a very big scale next year in the run-up to the election.