News
Assistance to Pensioners and welfare recipients
The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament supports the call for Assistance to Pensioners and welfare recipients
Action is needed now to ensure that people have heat and hot food. We ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs to make a hardship payment to pensioners and welfare recipients of a sum equivalent to one week’s pension or welfare payment.
With weather conditions expected to drop to -12 degrees over the coming week it is important that people are given the money to enable them to heat their homes and buy hot food. After Christmas those on low incomes are always short of money. This year the shortage of money is compounded by the non payment of the Additional Week at Christmas and also the reduction in payments to those aged under 66.
Speaking today Mairead Hayes CEO of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament said
This is the longest and coldest period of weather in Ireland for over 50 years. Decisive action must be taken now to deal with it. All efforts must be made to protect life and limb. This is an emergency and all organs of government must be mobilised to deal with it
Continuing she asked all in the community to call on their older and vulnerable neighbours to see if they can help in any way. She particularly called on Older People to take the initiative and get in touch with their neighbours and ask them for assistance.
Budget 2010 – News in Brief
The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament has issued a special “News in Brief” outlining the impact of Budget 2010 on Older People.
Click here: News in Brief Budget 2010 to view / download the newsletter (pdf format).
Budget 2010 & Older People
Reaction to Budget 2010 is mixed as far as Older People are concerned
said Máiréad Hayes CEO of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament today following the announcement of the Budget.
While the State Pension has not been touched per se, we must remember that Older People’s income has already been reduced by 2% by the withdrawal of the additional payment at Christmas
continued Ms Hayes.
In addition we note that the new carbon tax will impact on vulnerable pensioners especially those 10% of Older People who are already living in fuel poverty. It is older people living alone, on low incomes, in older housing stock – which tends to be poorly insulated – that are currently struggling to heat their homes. It is these people that must be protected.
Other Budget items impacting on Older People include the new 50c prescription charge. 96% of older people living alone are at risk of poverty, according to the CSO SILC (Survey on Income and Living Conditions) published two weeks ago. A previous Minister for Social Welfare indicated that the living alone allowance could be increased in the bad times – at times when the pension itself could not be increased, but this has not happened.
Taking the various cuts as a whole, Older People will see a fall in their income of approximately €600 per year, or 5% for someone relying on their state pension.
Older people do not live in a vacuum and are well aware of the financial realities – however the various cuts remind us that this is a long way from the promises in the current social partnership agreement ‘Towards 2016’.
concluded Ms Hayes.
AS GHAEILGE
Cáinfhaisnéis 2010 & Seanóirí
Is fáilte meascaithe atá tuillte ag an gCáinfhaisnéis seo, ‘fhad ‘is a mbaineann sé le sean daoine na hÉireann
arsa Máiréad Hayes príomhoifigeach feidhmiúcháin Parlaimint Shaoránaigh Sinsearacha na hÉireann inniu i ndiaidh na cáinfhaisnéise.
Cé nár chuireadh isteach ar an phinsean stáit, caithfimid a thógáil san áireamh gur gearradh 2% ó ioncam lucht an phinsin níos luaithe i mbliana nuair a cuireadh deireadh le ‘bónas na Nollag’
a dúirt Ms Hayes.
Dar leis an The European Pensions Barometer Report tá an dara pinsean is measa san Aontas Eorpach anseo in Éirinn – céim amaháin os chomhair an Ríocht Aontaithe.
Chomh maith le sin, is fiú a luadh go gcuirfidh an cáin charbóin nua isteach ar pinsinéirí leochaileach – ach go háirithe an 10% d’ár seanóirí atá ina gcónaí le bochtanas breosala cheanna. Is iad sean daoine ina gcónaí leo féin, ar ioncam íseal, i sean-tithe – nach bhfuil inslithe i gceart – atá faoi bhrú le teas a choinneáil ina dtithe. Caithfear na daoine seo a chosaint.
I measc rudaí eile sa cháinfhaisnéis seo a chuirfidh isteach ar sean-daoine tá an táille nua 50c ar oideas agus an ísliú sa Liúntas do Chúramóirí. Tá bliain eile imithe gan pingin breise sa Liúntas maireachtála aonair – níl ardú ar bith sa liúntas seo ó 1996. Tá 96% de sean-daoine a chónaíonn leo féin i mbaol bochtanais de réir an SILC (Survey on Income and Living Conditions) foilsithe coicís ó shin ag an Príomh Oifig Staidrimh.
Ag tógáil na giorruithe éagsúla le chéile beidh titim €600 nó mar sin sa bhliain ar seanóirí na hÉireann. Sin 5% dóibh siúd a bhraitheann ar an Pinsean Stáit amháin.
Feicimid nár déanadh aon rud don pas saorthaistil nó don pacáiste sochair teaghlaigh. Bíonn tiochar díreach ag na scéimeanna seo ar na daoine is boichte agus is leochailí in Éirinn. B’fhéidir go bhfuil ceacht foghlaimithe ó ollfeachtas na bliana seo caite
chríochnaigh Ms Hayes.
“On the last day before the budget, Older People asked of Brian …”
€10 increase in pension
Dear Brian,
The vision in the current social partnership agreement “Towards 2016” is that “Every older person would have access to an income which is sufficient to sustain an acceptable standard of living.”
Over 50% of Older People in Ireland are dependent on the state pension as their main source of income. The European Pensions Barometer Report has highlighted that Ireland has the second worst state pension in the EU, coming only ahead of the UK. The report indicated that our pension equals 32.5% of the average working wage, while the average across Europe is 60%.
We recognise that times are hard and that the government faces difficult decisions ahead of the budget. But older people have worked hard all their lives and have paid taxes & are entitled to an adequate standard of living in their old age.
The McCarthy Report recommends that Social Welfare Rates should be decreased by 5%, due the reduction in the consumer price index. But the goods and services that have fallen are not the ones purchased by Older People – the cost of living for Older People has not been reduced.
We therefore call on the government to increase the pension by €10 per week. The withdrawal of the additional week’s payment in December has resulted in a 2% decrease in the average pension in 2009.
Yours sincerely
Ireland’s Older People