State pension benchmarking
Deputy Collins pressed for delivery of the promised pension benchmarking roadmap. The Taoiseach said a pension increase would be announced in the budget but argued benchmarking would take time and must account for other supports and flexible retirement ages.
As has been said, the summer economic statement will be launched this afternoon. In May, I asked the Taoiseach about the Pension Promise campaign. The Government previously promised to benchmark the State pension. The Taoiseach said he would look into it and get back to me. He did not.
In the roadmap for social inclusion, the Government made three commitments. These were to finalise the approach to benchmarking pensions; to develop any legislation necessary to implementing benchmarking; and to apply benchmarking to budget 2021. All three were due to be implemented by the end of 2020. As part of the voluntary national review on the sustainable development goals, SDGs, Ireland will present to the UN this month that the roadmap for social inclusion is "a national strategy for poverty reduction and improved social inclusion". The Government is presenting these commitments to the UN as a national strategy. They are three years late. Will the Taoiseach confirm whether the Government plans to honour the commitment to benchmark pensions and, if not, explain why?
Comment on this
An increase in the weekly rate of the State pension will be announced in the budget. The amount is yet to be agreed. As the Deputy will be aware, it was increased by €12 per week last year. It will not be agreed until October. However, I hope it will bring us closer to reaching-----
Comment on this
Benchmarking was promised.
Comment on this
-----the benchmark the Deputy mentioned. Three things must be said about it. First, it will take time to achieve it. Second, we will have a flexible pension age, meaning that if people retire later - for example at 67, 68, 69 or 70 - they can have a higher pension. That also needs to be taken into account. Third, when we calculate benchmarking of State pensions, it would be wrong to say that things like the living alone payment, the household benefits package, free travel or the fuel allowance count for nothing.
When some people calculate the benchmark, they say those things count for nothing but they do not count for nothing. They should be included in the calculation.