Older & Bolder closed June 2013 This is an archived website
Your action helped save State Pension
Older people reliant on State Pensions and other supports have escaped from Budget 2010 unscathed. They stood in front of the firing squad with other Social Welfare recipients and they were not hit by any flying bullets. We are relieved because we know how reliant a majority of older people are on social transfers to protect them against the risk of poverty. Older & Bolder welcomes the maintenance of State Pensions at current levels, the protection of the Household Benefits Package, Travel Pass, Living Alone Allowance, Over 80 Age Allowance and Fuel Allowance.
Older & Bolder believes that the Government’s decision to leave the State Pension almost intact – apart from the 2% cut due to the suspension of the Christmas Bonus – was due to the concerted campaigning by members of the alliance and by thousands of individual supporters across the country. This campaign tapped into the same energy that inspired the spontaneous and vocal response by older people to last year’s proposal to abolish universal entitlement of the medial card to the over 70s.
The response to our petition to protect the State Pension was tremendous and we would like to thank all those involved; from those who took the time to sign an individual petition to those who organised petition stands and lobbied their local TD’s.
Since the McCarthy Report was published in July, Older & Bolder has advocated the protection of all vulnerable groups and the shaping of a society where there’s trust, solidarity and where we shape systems of care and support that pool costs and risks across the generations. Accordingly, we cannot celebrate a budget that targets vulnerable groups within the 65 years and under population and asks them to shoulder the burden of fiscal adjustment. Social welfare benefits to Widows/Widowers, Carers, Guardians and Blind Persons have all been cut; and recipients of Invalidity, Occupational Injuries, Disability and One Parent Family payments and Children’s Allowance have also had their benefits cut.
This budget has also introduced a range of different measures that will affect all generations. In the coming days Older & Bolder will be assessing these cuts, charges and taxes to see what impact they will have on older people. Measures requiring scrutiny include the introduction of prescription charges, water charges, changes to Carer’s supports, property and carbon taxes.
In the longer term Older and Bolder will be on alert for any proposals to change the State Pension age and are awaiting with interest the Government’s National Pensions Framework shortly to be published by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs.
