Pensions Crisis Looming According To Brennan

New Report Predicts The Number Of Pensioners To Treble To Over One-And-A-Half Million By 2050

On Monday, The Minister for Social Affairs, Seamus Brennan T.D., released a report predicting that the number of people aged 65 and over in Ireland will treble over the coming decades to more than 1.5 million and illustrating the urgent need to find solutions to the pensions challenge facing the country.

According to Minister Brennan, the challenge over the coming years is "to make ageing an opportunity and an asset, rather than looking on the increase in the number of people of retirement age as a problem or burden."

The report, 'A Social Portrait of Older People in Ireland' shows that there are over 460,000 people aged 65 or over in the country at the current time.

Minister Brennan commented: "The welcome increase in longevity, and the fact we are now all living longer and healthier lives, means that over the coming 50 years that figure for over 65's will rise dramatically to over 1.5 million men and women.

"In response, meeting the cost of State pensions, for example, will spiral from the current rate of 4.3% of gross National Product to almost 14%.

"In that time we will go from the current ration of four people at work for every person over 65 to two workers in 20 years time and then to close to a one to one situation in 50 years."

The Minister also used the opportunity to reiterate the steps that the Government has taken to ease the burden of pensioners, saying that, "Over the past decade the Government has made great strides in improving the incomes of older people.

However he also warned that while State incomes and supports for those now in retirement are steadily climbing, the biggest challenge would be convincing almost half of the country's workforce of two million that they should take out personal pensions.

"In stark terms it means that 900,000, some 500,000 of whom are women, are gradually heading towards retirements in which their main source of income will be the State pension," explained Mr. Brennan.

"After layers of research and analysis over the past two years we are now getting close to making the major decisions that will pave the way for solutions.

"Within weeks the Government will publish a Green Paper that will set out all the options, including directions on whether Ireland needs some type of mandatory system. Then it will be the time for some hard, but fair, decisions to be made."

He also stressed that ageing is about more than income alone: "It is about how we cherish the contribution of those who are now growing old. In this fast-paced age we must never forget that our older people still have a wealth of expertise and experience to pass on.

"Most important of all we must recognise and reward older people in the way they themselves want to be recognised and rewarded.

"It is all about making sure that our older people have dignity, security, recognition and opportunity in later years.

"It is about a whole change of mindset. About moving beyond old debates about how to manage dependence and working towards a new world of enabling independence.

"One example is giving older people the flexibility and choice to work on past their retirement date, if that is what they want.

"Another is to provide the supports that allow older people embrace the whole area of information technology through computer training and Internet access."