Budget 2017: Pension squabble shows lack of depth to new politics

It’s nice to feel loved, isn’t it? As the clock slowly ticks down to budget day tomorrow, pensioners, blind people, widows, carers and people with disabilities have seemingly been at the forefront of every politicians’ mind.

Among the recession’s worst-hit victims, those in need will no doubt have been warmed with the knowledge their plight has at last been noticed by those in power.

Elderly people, 85,000 of which Age Action Ireland says are living in “deprivation” and unable to afford heating bills, will be helped.

Carers, whose tens of thousands of hours spent helping family members saves the State €4bn a year, will no longer be ignored.

And blind people, widows and those with disabilities — who a Government source told numerous media outlets on Friday have yet to see cuts to their allowances when Fianna Fáil was in power returned — are also set for a big budget hug.

Finally, those affected are surely thinking, parties are listening. Three cheers for new politics! Hurray!

Well, maybe not.

While Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have attempted to frame their 11th-hour pensions budget battle in this way, the reality is far more cynical than the “new politics” fairytale suggests.

The past 48 hours of debate surrounding when the likely €5 pension rise will be introduced has little to do with those in need and everything to do with credit claiming for Budget 2017 — and positioning for the next election.

For Fianna Fáil, the strategy is simple. Older people vote in big numbers, so pushing for a €5 pension increase makes perfect sense while underlining the party’s new image as socially sincere.

At a €350m annual cost, it also handcuffs Government from any other significant social protection spending this year. The approach worked so well that last Monday, Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar appeared to admit defeat as he tried to claim the hike as an FG idea.

However, while the attempt to wrestle back bragging rights failed, on Friday a new more thought-through counter-attack was made.

After the final cabinet meeting before budget day on Thursday, it emerged Mr Varadkar now wants to delay implementation until June to ensure space for similar increases for blind people, carers, widows and those with disabilities.

While ostensibly being about spreading the recovery to everyone, the strategy is in reality about re-framing Fianna Fáil’s pension call as ignoring other needy groups, and guaranteeing Government will not be taken down until at least next summer as the pensions electoral reward is pushed out to the middle distance.

The subsequent weekend row over when the pension rise will be introduced and Fianna Fáil’s budget vote abstaining news is all about this subtle manoeuvring.

And the fact the entire mess centres on Fianna Fáil and Mr Varadkar — a potential future Fine Gael leader who Mr Martin said on Saturday “feels if he can have a go off Fianna Fáil, that might gain him traction in whatever subsequent election” — just adds further credence to the view.

The vulnerable will benefit from Budget 2017. But the reasons why are entirely different than the political spin suggests.