Submission 113
March 2008
Green Paper submission
Acting as a private citizen, I wish to make the following submission to the Green Paper on Pensions, please:
The current criteria applied by the Department of Social Protection in determining eligibility for entitlement of State Pension Contributory is based on various methods including total contributions.
It is my understanding that it is expected that the previous methods may be altered under the proposed Pensions Reform, which is due in the Autumn.
I feel that, in the interest of equity and justice, it is essential that such reform will take cognisance of a certain category of older people who have already a degree of certainty on their pension entitlement, i.e. under the existing eligibility criteria.
Such individuals (who reach 66 years of age before 6 April 2012) may be in their early sixties and their eligibility under the present criteria is based on a calculation method other than total contributions. Therefore, in carrying out such reforms it is absolutely crucial that the pension entitlements of people in that age category are protected and that any changes, implemented under the proposed reforms, do not diminish their pension entitlements. It should also be noted that, realistically, individuals of such an age are already too old to commence alternative pension fund arrangements.
