Observations on the Green Paper on Pensions by the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament

The Parliament through the work of its Pensions Committee, meetings with members and workshops at the Annual Parliament Meeting consulted widely and examined the proposals in the Green Paper in some depth.

Among our main recommendations are:

• A call for a new pension system that guarantees an income adequate to meet all the needs of pensioners
• A pension which would be an income replacement not a minimum anti-poverty measure.
• A pension system where  mandatory contributions are made to a State run scheme which guarantees a pension of 50% of Gross Average Industrial Earnings on retirement.
• Reforms that would enable all Older People who need it to qualify for the State non-contributory pension.
• The Homemakers’ Scheme to  be backdated to allow Older Women to receive a full pension in their own right.
• Women with inadequate contribution records to be provided with a pension in recognition of their contribution to the economy and society.
• A total contributions approach to qualifying for a pension where every contribution made can be used to fund pensions and should be redeemable regardless of when or how the contribution was made.
• Anomalies such as Class D and Qualified Adult Allowances, we suggest might be dealt with by agreements such as the SCOPE model agreed under the “Towards 2016” Social Partnership Agreement by the IFA, DSFA and Revenue.
• Pensions to  be paid at 65 and the Transition pension to be abolished.
• That the Living Alone  Allowance should be increased annually in line with inflation.

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Observations on the green paper on pensions 2007