Pensions face ‘piecemeal’ reform, says Taoiseach
Tens of thousands of people, mainly women, who took time out to raise children or care for elderly relatives are being denied higher rates of the contributory pension due to anomalies in the system.
This means some women are losing as much as €35 per week, as payments are calculated from the date a person first began work and do not take consideration of time taken out to care for family.
A Dáil motion put down by Fianna Fáil this week was passed, but, speaking in Brussels yesterday, Mr Varadkar said he would not be introducing reform in a “piecemeal” manner.
He said the issue is “very complicated and technical”, adding that Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty will set up a public consultation in relation to a new approach around calculating pensions in the coming weeks.
The Government has already indicated that these changes are not likely to come into force before 2020.
Mr Varadkar said: “What we’re going to do as a Government, and the Department of Social Protection is working on this already, is potential solutions that might improve the situation for people.”
He said that costs and the impacts on other cohorts would have to be considered before any changes to the rules around pension calculations are made.
“Any change has knock-on effects and you may make a change and then suddenly realise you’ve disadvantages another group,” said Mr Varadkar. “So this really has to be thought through and done comprehensively.”
