They don’t give up. During the last general election, there was huge opposition to raising the pension age to 68. The right-wing parties had to back down but they did not give up.
They set up a commission, stacked full of tame experts who know their thinking. This has now recommended that the age for a state pension increase to 67 by 2031 and then move to 68 by 2039.
Worse, they also proposed penalising people for their resistance. They want to impose a 4% PRSI charge on people aged over 66 – on any income over €100 that is now drawn from social welfare. So if you have a pension from your job, you will be forced to pay the increase.
The Pension Commission is chaired by none other than Josephie Feehily. In 2013, when she was the chair of the Revenue Commissioners, famously pursued the strategy of taking the property tax directly from peoples salaries.
People Before Profit want to restore the pension age to 65. With higher productivity and taxes on corporations, there will be little difficulty paying for it.
