Civil servant Angela Gallagher lost three-quarters of her income overnight when she turned 65 three years ago.
Mrs Gallagher, a widow with two children, had to live on her Civil Service pension which, as a late entrant to the Revenue Commissioners, was just a quarter of her previous salary.
“One minute I was fine and the next I was unfine,” she said. “I had a mortgage and I was in dire circumstances as many people are in that hiatus between mandatory retirement at 65 and the pension age starting at 66.”
She said she was forced to sell her home in west Limerick. “I had to go to the bank and tell them that I couldn’t afford my mortgage. Effectively I gave it away because the bottom had fallen out of the housing market.”
Mrs Gallagher said many other people of a similar age were reduced to “penury” as a result of being left a year without either the State pension or their salary.
The mandatory retirement age of 65 was abolished for civil servants who entered the service after 2004 but did not apply to Mrs Gallagher who is now 68.
“On retirement, I suffered a loss of income of 75 per cent, yet my household bills, my medical bills and my mortgage still had to be serviced out of the reduced income.”
Commitments
Mrs Gallagher said that many people coming up to retirement age had considerable family commitments, such as children at university or mortgages to pay. She said some were delighted to be retiring at 65, but others dreaded the day and many felt they still have something valuable to contribute.
“Some were angry at having to lose their jobs at a particular age, yet not qualifying for the State pension for some years afterwards or despairing of a system that allows for the casting aside of a wealth of experience as with doctors and nurses in our health service, just because of an accidental birthday.”
Mrs Gallagher blogs about growing older at The Silver Voice and her case has been highlighted by Age Action Ireland.
