In the final analysis, our government should be judged by the way it treats children and the elderly. Long hospital waiting lists, schools in substandard buildings, high rates of child poverty, cuts to children’s allowance, social welfare and pensions, abolishing the bin charges waivers…. The list goes on.

Mary Hanafin’s latest plan to punish pensioners is indeed part of a pattern.

Hanafin’s scheme will:
* Force everyone who is currently under the age of 49 to work until they are 68. No state pension will be provided until this date – so we can starve, beg or work despite tiredness and ill health.
* Reduced state pension for anyone who do not have 30 years of PRSI payments. If you have lived abroad or have been out of work for long periods, you will face difficulties.
* Reduced occupational pension for anyone entering the public sector. Instead of getting a proportion of your final salary, your pension will be brought down by the number of years you spent on lower wages.
* Forced contributions by workers to the private pension industry. Workers will be ‘auto-enrolled’ into an industry that rips them off and uses their savings to speculate and gamble. Even if you withdraw from a scheme, you will be automatically enrolled every two years and if you forget to withdraw within six months you lose your contributions.