Rose Conway-Walsh demands clarity on 2012 pension cuts
Senator Rose Conway-Walsh raised the 2012 changes to pension recalculation and criticised the lack of clarity and slow progress in rectifying cuts. She welcomed the government's move to address the issue but demanded a clear timetable and answers from Minister Regina Doherty.
Scope of the problem
The senator set out the department's figures as reported by the minister - 8,500 people have received a payment, a further 24,000 have been contacted, leaving approximately 50,000 still to be contacted. She said it is also understood that 11,000 have yet to receive initial correspondence, meaning about 61,000 people have yet to be dealt with.
Impact on pensioners
She described widespread hardship among pensioners, saying many in Mayo and beyond have suffered drastic cuts and are now facing fear and financial distress. Examples cited include pensioners struggling to pay for hospital treatment and travel, and having cuts of 100 euro, 50 euro, 70 euro or 80 euro that are significant to those on low incomes.
Demand for a ministerial update
The senator urged that Minister Regina Doherty be brought before the house to give a substantive update and to answer questions about timetables and implementation. She asked for clarity on how long it will take to finalise the review of the 24,000 contacted and to deal with the rest, and wanted to know the size of the average uplift for those whose payments increased.
Broader concerns about fairness and other pensions
The speech also raised wider fairness issues beyond the state pension recalculation, referencing problems with ESB pensions and CE supervisors' pensions. The senator argued that pensioners who contributed throughout their lives deserve transparency and fairness in how pension changes are handled.
Call for urgency and pre-election clarity
She pressed for answers and implementation before the election so pensioners know where they stand, stressing the urgency of resolving outstanding cases. The senator said many are still waiting for correspondence, cannot get clarity from the department, and need concrete timelines and action now.
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I want to raise the issue of the 2012 changes to the pensions and the recalculation process and like many others I welcome the move by the government to rectify this situation but like many other announcements there has been a lack of clarity around the timescale you know how many people have been affected and I know there are thousands of people around Mayo who have been affected by this and who have had drastic cuts to their pensions and are finding as they're coming up to pension age that they're not entitled to what they expected and rightfully expected they would be entitled to but Minister Regina Doherty recently said that there was 8,500 people had received a payment she said that a further 24,000 have been contacted leaving approximately 50,000 people still to be contacted it's also my understanding that 11,000 have yet to receive the initial correspondence from the department and this means that approximately 61,000 people have yet to be dealt with so at least 50,000 have yet to be even reviewed and they're expecting letters out from the pensions department and they have rang up and made inquiries and they cannot get clarity around it so what I want to know how long is that process expected to take in terms of finalizing the 24,000 and dealing with the others is there a time frame for dealing with all of that I think the minister should come into the house to give an update on the progress of the scheme I think this is really urgent because there are pensioners who are really living in fear and pensioners who have had cuts and pensioners who are left with hardly no money at all in trying to survive they're trying to pay for hospital treatment for travel for many other things and they just don't have the money to do that for example what is the size of the average payment she said that 80% of the 8,500 have seen their payment increase but what is the average uplift there's a real injustice being done to pensioners in this country and it's been done very covertly and very since 2012 in particular when those changes were brought in in 2012 people were really really struggling to survive and the impact of those changes is really hitting home now and we see situations where even pensioners and people are followed beyond the grave to get every last cent from them and I think it's an absolute indictment on our country to have pensioners who have contributed so much throughout their lives to have them then in their retirement years where they don't have sufficient pensions because of changes that were made then and it's not just the changes to the state pensions of course it's the changes that we've seen the problems with the ESB pensions and other pensions we've had the CE supervisors as well in terms of their pensions it's just fairness and transparency that we need so at the very first opportunity I would ask for Minister Regina Dougherty to come into this house to not just give a bland statement but to answer the questions that we are asked every day on the doors and that I am asked across Mayo by pensioners in what's happening how come I have been cut you know 100 euro 50 euro 70 euro 80 euro these may seem like small amounts but they're huge amounts to pensioners who have to pay for everything and pensioners who are in poverty we don't want a whole nation full of pensioners who are living in abject poverty at the stroke of a pen which was done in 2012 and when there are announcements made as many times announcements are made we need to see them implemented and we need to know before the election where pensioners stand across the country so I would ask you that later if Minister Regina Dougherty could come in to the house as soon as possible Thank you Senator Humphreys you
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