State pension recipients €700 worse off today than in 2009, says charity Alone

Pensioners are facing into another winter of discontent according to the charity Alone, which claimed anyone on a state pension is €700 worse off now than in 2009.

Its CEO, Sean Moynihan, said measures included in Budget 2016, such as the increase in the pension and the partial reinstatement of the Christmas bonus still did not compensate for the string of cuts implemented in previous budgets.

He said that while many people were understandably “protected” in the budget — particularly families — others, such as the elderly, were not.