THE STATE pension must not be reduced as part of Budget 2011 and old age pensioners had “nothing to fear” on this issue, Fianna Fáil backbencher Michael Kennedy has said.
The Dublin North TD said it was not conceivable that old age pensioners would face a cut in their incomes “while the State continues to borrow hundreds of millions of euro to pay child benefit to well-off parents who quite frankly don’t need it”.
He welcomed what he called the “firm commitment” from Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív to put the needs of the most vulnerable in society to the fore in the discussions taking place in preparation for the budget.
“Many older people on very low incomes have contacted me, fearful that their pension will be cut following irresponsible media headlines,” Mr Kennedy said.
“This is not what has been said by the Minister, and Fianna Fáil will always seek to protect the most vulnerable in our society. People who rely on the State for their sole income week to week have nothing to fear.”
He had spoken to Mr Ó Cuív and had emphasised that it must be the Government’s priority to ensure social welfare payments were available to those who were entitled to them and those who needed them most.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's News at Oneprogramme, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said Mr Ó Cuív was "simply making the point that he is looking at all aspects of the [social welfare] budget".
“Please don’t have it being suggested in the month of May, before we even sit down and have an estimates discussion at a political level or an official level, that we have made decisions in relation to this matter.”
Asked if he was “softening-up” pensioners for a cutback, Mr Cowen said: “Absolutely not. The record of Fianna Fáil in government has always been to protect the vulnerable.”
Fine Gael frontbencher Olwyn Enright said later that the Taoiseach’s refusal to rule out pension cuts showed, once again, that the elderly may be targeted by Fianna Fáil.
Labour’s social protection spokeswoman, Róisín Shortall, said in a statement: “The Minister’s kite-flying exercise will cause anxiety among hundreds of thousands of pension recipients across the country.
“Why doesn’t the Minister target the over-generous and completely unproductive pension tax reliefs available to the very rich?”
Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh said Mr Ó Cuív’s remarks showed the Government had “no moral conscience”.
“Those with the lowest incomes in society remain in the Government’s sights. Rather than targeting those who can actually afford to contribute more to our economy, this Government would rather target old age pensioners.”
The Older and Bolder campaign said a cut to the State pension would be an assault on vulnerable older people. Director Patricia Conboy said any cut would be “stubbornly resisted by older people and a concerted nationwide lobby of politicians will now get under way”.
Older and Bolder’s members are Active Retirement Ireland, Age Opportunity, Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Carers’ Association, Irish Hospice Foundation, Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, the Older Women’s Network and the Senior Help Line.
