Budget win for pensioners as Heather Humphreys seeks €15 a week pension increase, while pushing back on Jobseeker’s rise

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faketales

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Budget win for pensioners as Heather Humphreys seeks €15 a week pension increase, while pushing back on Jobseeker’s rise

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys wants a €15 increase in the state pension, but is insisting that the jobseeker’s allowance is not increased at the same rate.
m.independent.ie

€15 a week is a bit over 5%. I think the last few years were €12 a week. Not huge amounts of money individually but greater than inflation especially when a high percentage of people on a pension won’t be paying rent or mortgage. Is it justified by any evidence and more importantly can we afford it?

Are we not heading head first into a pension crisis? I’m 25 years away from a state pension but expect it to look very different when I get there.

Without getting too into what the solution should we not at least be slowing the increase?

I fear we will end up there and we will be discussing why the pension crisis can’t be fixed over night.

I fear Mary Lou is wrong and the demographics may not look after themselves.

It’s just buying votes right and no one will call it out right?
 
One for everyone in the audience. Meanwhile Dublin , Cork and Galway transport is envy of the third world, infrequent but shiny mercedes buses stuck in traffic

I believe sums of 20,000,000 are required to bring up to EU low tier rating, think of Bulgaria, rather than the increments spent on holidays, shiny metal or lashed against the wall from the pub.

The golden goose will be well cooked if we don't get our house in order.
 
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It’s great to see an increase in the pension whilst Jobseekers doesn’t keep pace. This is a country with full employment where after a month of unemployment people should be forced to wear orange overalls and do public service like scraping up chewing gum and dog excrement.

That would put manners on the freeloaders and the professional losers.
 
All kite flying exercises.
We have to wait until budget day to find out the real figures.
Till then we will be getting a lot of bull dished up!
 

I’m not even sure what your point is.

Hasn’t Jobseekers benefit just seen a major revamp?
 
Headline should be something like "Heather Humphreys adds billions to the country's pension liabilities in an attempt to buy the grey vote"
 
No doubt about it - buying the blue rinse vote, with funds that the youth will have to provide, for years to come.

Let's hope someone draws the younger peoples attention to this, in a very high profile and public manner, as it may frighten the government into a change of course!

The national pension model must change - it's not sustainable into the future, simple as that.
 
Blue Rinse, Grey Vote I’m thinking maybe there’s, a little unfair disrespect, being directed at those who actually vote and have paid from the age of 14 in some instances, into the system TAX, PRSI, Social Insurance, USC, Pensions, Mortgage Rates in the 14%. Many will be on a very limited fixed income. ( not particularly people who post here) but of the average population. Some balance, should be applied, yes certainly look after younger working people who struggle to save for a deposit, for a house, to pay for transport, childcare. Pay them adequately. Assist in Living wage provide infrastructure provide homes. They are the future after all. It appears though that the rhetoric is Grays against Millennials or GenZ and that the younger working people whose demographic will be much lesser, will be paying for the Gray's Pension and keeping them in their nursing homes entirely as they dribble towards dementia. Did they pay anything towards their pensions, saving, investments, at all at all.
 
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I'm not intending to be disrespectful. I think you are being over sensitive, tbh, but it is the age where everyone is very easily offended, so I'll just move on...

Most of the things you've listed, were costs associated with running the country and providing the day to day benefits which people enjoyed, along with investment and support of various pieces of infrastructure (roads, buses, schools, hospitals etc.). They were not multiple payments to fund a pension.

Sure, the state promised a pension, as part of the deal, and that continues to be honoured. However, the fact of the matter is that the State can't afford to keep funding it at current levels, not alone at increased levels, into the long term. So things must change. With that in mind, we're seeing the introduction of auto-enrolment, for example.

Mortgage rates had nothing to do with the state pension. Anyone who borrowed, knew they had to pay interest. Look at it this way, at least they got the opportunity to buy their own home... something many of the younger generation may never get!
 
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They tried that in “Conquest of the planet of the apes” (1972), they even had the orange overalls. Caused a revolution and didn’t workout so well for those at the top of the social hierarchy.
 
That’s very derogatory of older people.
 
Fortune said:
Headline should be something like "Heather Humphreys adds billions to the country's pension liabilities in an attempt to buy the grey vote"
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And it will work. Though I don’t begrudge the grey vote getting extra in their pension because many are afraid to put on their heat in winter. The solution to the pensions crisis has to be solved by sorting it out now with the younger working population.
 
It might have been a bit less unsustainable, but Enda Kenny used the pension reserve fund to pay for a reduction in VAT for the hospitality industry IIRC
 
My 80 year old father still won't heat the house when it's needed because, in short, it costs money. No increase in the pension will change his habits but might change his vote. And the pensions rollercoaster gets put off for another year...
 
Whatever they give will be pretty much eroded for those retirees who can still afford the health insurance increases.
 
Roro999 said:
Whatever they give will be pretty much eroded for those retirees who can still afford the health insurance increases.
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Health insurance increases hit everybody the same, but retirees are the only ones actually getting value for it as they are massively subsidised by younger people.

I think we should start making retirees subsidise the car insurance of the 17 year old kids who actually could do with the financial help!
 
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