Monday 11 October 2010

‘The Great Pensions Debate’, which was held in the Long Gallery in Parliament Buildings, was organised by Age Sector Platform in partnership with Age NI, ICTU (NIC) and National Pensioners’ Convention (NI).  The four organisations, which came together earlier this year as part of ‘A Pensioners’ Manifesto’, described the event as a means of exploring the most important Westminster based issue for older people – the pension. 

The event also examined the impact of revelations made over the last few months, such as the coalition government’s ‘triple lock guarantee’ on pension increases; in addition to worrying predictions that changes could be made to the winter fuel allowance during the Westminster spending review.

Ivan Baxter, spokesperson for the Pensioners’ Manifesto Group, commented:
“Older people are particularly worried at the moment.  With changes being made to the pension system, a trend developing towards the removal of universal benefits and an increase in the level of VAT from 2011, many will be concerned about their financial security over the next few years.  This event gave older people the opportunity to question their political representatives on these issues, and demand assurances that older people’s entitlements will be protected.  Considering that nearly one in three pensioner households are already living in poverty, we must ensure that the situation does not get any worse.”

Mr Baxter continued: “As we approach the coldest part of the year, older people continue to worry about the cost of heating their homes.  The winter fuel allowance is an essential tool in tackling fuel poverty.  With 756 excess winter deaths amongst those aged 65 and over during the last winter, the life and death importance of the winter fuel allowance is obvious.  It must be protected for every pensioner household.”

The event at Stormont featured a panel of five MLAs from the main political parties.  The panel included Anna Lo MLA (Alliance), Simon Hamilton MLA (DUP), Mary Bradley MLA (SDLP), Billy Armstrong MLA (UUP) and Micky Brady MLA (Sinn Fein).  These MLAs were asked to outline their party position on the current value of the state pension, the triple lock guarantee, the change to measuring inflation when determining pension increases and the importance of the winter fuel allowance. 

Alliance MLA Kieran McCarthy, who hosted the event, commented: “As the first MLA to sign the Pensioners’ Manifesto petition earlier this year, and as the Alliance party’s Older People’s spokesperson, I am all too aware of the serious financial problems that many older people living on the basic state pension face, and the concerns they have with the spending cuts being planned.  Therefore, the timing of this event has been very welcome and it has allowed us to debate one of the biggest issues we face as a society – how do we ensure that our older population has enough money to enjoy a decent standard of life in later years?  It is important that we deal with these issues quickly so that the pensioners of today– many of whom live in poverty – and those of future generations are protected from hardship.”

To view more photographs from the event click here.