SIPTU says Government can afford to stop pension age rise

Siptu representatives have rejected a claim by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe that the State cannot afford to stop the increase in the pension age to 67 years in 2021.

Responding to Mr Donohoe, who questioned how the €200m cost of such a policy could be funded, Siptu researcher Michael Taft said it could be financed from the existing Social Insurance Fund.

Mr Taft said: “The minister has said that it will cost €217m per year to stop the pension age increase and has questioned how this would be paid for.

The €217m cost can be paid out of the surplus in the Social Insurance Fund, currently running a surplus of €1.4bn a year.

The union's deputy general secretary Ethel Buckley said they plan on making this a big issue in the upcoming General Election.

Momentum building ahead of next weeks official #Stop67 launch

"SIPTU members have helped to make the government plan to raise the pension age to 67 one of the major issues of the #Election2020 campaign." - #ourSIPTU DGS @EthelBuckley

Take action here 👉 https://t.co/Lrc3DOuBXr pic.twitter.com/3aYiTZUexM

— SIPTU (@SIPTU) January 17, 2020