OPINION:Commentators who raise this issue fail to recognise that life is already difficult for many older people, writes EAMON TIMMINS
SINCE THE ESRI's Prof John FitzGerald and The Irish TimesEconomics Editor Dan O'Brien raised the issue in recent days, commentators have piled in behind them setting out the case why pensions could, or should, be cut. They were not cut last year; inflation is falling and therefore pensioners are gaining; pensioners should share the pain when we are all suffering; cutting the State pension would also provide big savings to the exchequer at one stroke of a pen, unlike other new forms of taxation which would require considerable ground work to be done first.
But has anyone looked at the reasons why the State pension should not be cut or questioned the validity of the arguments in favour of reducing pensions? Age Action welcomes this debate, but believes it has been one-sided to date.
The strongest argument for protecting the State pension is that it provides a vital buffer for older people against poverty. More than half the pensioners in Ireland are dependent on the State pension as their sole means of income. This situation is unlikely to change for the rest of their lives, even when the economy recovers.
For those on the State pension (contributory), it is the weekly payment they paid PRSI stamps each week over 40 years of their working lives, in return for financial certainty in retirement. For those without adequate stamps, they are means-tested for their State pension (non-contributory).
The level of the State pension has increased in recent years, with the effect that the number of older people living in poverty has been reduced from 44 per cent in 2001 to 10 per cent last year. The fact that one in 10 pensioners is still in poverty is nothing to be proud of, but the reduction in poverty levels is a major success. We cannot now start dismantling that success and plunge older people back into poverty.
Many older people still live on incomes which leave them hovering around the poverty line. Research by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice found that a woman aged over 70 and living alone faces a shortfall of €12-€67 a week between what it would cost to live a sustainable lifestyle and what she receives in social welfare payments. Some 40 per cent of pensioners living alone and 30 per cent of pensioner couples are unable to afford an unexpected expense.
Pensioners living alone are also one of the groups most likely to struggle to afford to heat their homes. Older people bristle when they hear commentators say that they are the big winners in the recession and that they have come through unscathed to date.
The loss of the Christmas bonus wiped 2 per cent off their annual income last year. The reduction in medical card entitlements means pensioners can have just two teeth filled by a dentist. Cuts to home help, meals on wheels and respite services have hurt those who are struggling to live in their own homes.
For many older people, life has become more difficult in the last 12 months.
This struggle is not reflected by the commentators. They point to falling inflation, without recognising that many older people cannot benefit from the cheapest food bargains because they have trouble accessing transport or they cannot take advantage of the “two chickens for the price of one” offers because they live alone.
Those who are frail or housebound are hit harder by rises in fuel prices as they spend longer in their homes. The carbon tax was introduced in May but older people are still awaiting the compensation measures promised by the Government.
Older people are looking for recognition from policymakers – recognition that their needs may vary from the needs of other sections of society. Too often this recognition is absent from the analysis of commentators, who compare the perceived costs of older people to the costs of other age groups in society, without fully understanding the difficulties older people face.
However, no one should be left in any doubt that if the State pension is cut in December, it will mean disproportionate hardship for the most vulnerable older people.
Eamon Timmins is head of advocacy and communications at Age Action