Poverty risk - Save elderly from cuts

Some 11.1% of pensioners in this country were at risk of poverty in 2008.

This was still statistically too high, but the figure has more than halved in a relatively short time — dramatically down from 24.7% in 2004.

It is also appreciably lower than the figure for Northern Ireland, where 23% of pensioners are at significant risk of poverty. The figures indicate that older people in the Republic are better off than their Northern counterparts, but this is no cause to be complacent.

Older women have a higher risk of poverty than men, because they received fewer and lower occupational pensions. Ironically, many people who saved diligently and thought they were investing prudently to build up their pensions would have seen those largely wiped out in the recent economic downturn.

There is now considerable fear amongst older people throughout the island about the likely cuts in services. There is also anxiety that their incomes will be reduced, and that their taxes will be increased.

Tax relief on pensions is already heavily skewed towards the wealthier, which is grossly unfair. While the latest figures indicate that much has been done to tackle the poverty at the lower end of the scale, there are still grave inequalities that need to be tackled urgently.