The Pension Promise Campaign is holding a meeting in Galway on Monday to call on the Government to honour the promise of a state pension rate of at least 34% of average earnings.
Just like the Stop67 Campaign, the Pension Promise Campaign is part of a wider demand for fair and flexible pensions for all. The Pensions Promise Campaign is led by SIPTU, Age Action, the National Women’s Council, the Irish Senior Citizen’s Parliament and Active Retirement Ireland.
The current weekly rate of the state pension is €265.30, just 28% of average earnings. This falls €53 per week short of the Government’s commitment of 34% (€318 per week ) and fails to deliver on the Government’s promise to provide a basic level of pension adequacy.
“The Pension Promise Campaign was successfully launched in Dublin last week and we had another fantastic meeting in Cork yesterday, “ a spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to hold a series of townhall meetings to raise awareness and build support for the campaign. We invite you to join us in Galway’s meeting at The Galmont Hotel, Galway on Monday July 3 at 11a.m.
Speakers will include representatives of the campaign organisations and constituency TDs and audience members are encouraged to raise questions.
“Poverty and deprivation are rising for older adults due to high price inflation, with risk of poverty having doubled and consistent poverty more than tripled since 2020. Older people deserve adequate and secure incomes. It’s no more than they have earned after a lifetime of working, paying taxes and contributing to their communities,” she added.
It is 25 years since the National Pensions Policy Initiative proposed a benchmark of 34% of gross average industrial earnings for the contributory State Pension. Under the Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023, the Department of Social Protection was asked to develop proposals for a formal benchmark of 34% and to institute a process where future changes in pensionrates would be indexed to changes in consumer prices and average wages.
The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025, which the current Programme for Government has committed to implement rigorously, states that “this Government has committed to the introduction of a system of benchmarking rates of pension payment both to average wages and to inflation.”
Benchmarking is also a recommendation of the Report of the Commission on Pensions.The Pension Promise Campaign demands that the Government honours its commitment to a state pension rate of 34% of average earnings.
