Anne-Marie Walsh
December 27 2019 2:30 AM
The number of 65-year-olds on the dole has trebled since the Government made them wait an extra year for a pension.
There are now 5,263 of them on jobseeker's payments that are €45 a week lower than the State pension.
This compares with 1,715 who were on the dole six years ago before State-funded pension payments were axed for those aged 65 to 66.
Many may have been forced to leave their jobs because of compulsory retirement clauses in their employment contracts. Others may not have been physically capable of continuing to work and some may be working part-time.
And the number of over-65s on the dole is likely to soar further as the qualifying age for the State pension rises to 67 next year and 68 in 2028.
Future pension age hikes will hit workers in other ways because they'll have to wait longer for benefits including free travel and a fuel allowance. They are among Government measures to reduce the cost of its pension bill as the population ages.
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The issue of pension age hikes will become a battlefield in the upcoming general election because the Labour Party and Sinn Féin have vowed to block upcoming increases.
French workers are already involved in a stand-off with their government over plans for a more modest rise in the retirement age.
Groups representing older workers said that apart from the financial loss suffered by those on the dole, many were embarrassed about signing on.
One organisation said dole claimants had faced difficulties when they wanted to travel abroad.
"In one case, a member in Wicklow wanted to take an extended holiday overseas to Australia to visit his son but was told if he left the country for more than two weeks, payment would be stopped," said Peter Kavanagh, head of communications at Active Retirement Ireland.
"Human lives are caught up in this. It shows it for the half-baked solution that it is and that the old people in question are not at the heart of this."
He urged the Government to make it illegal for bosses to get rid of workers when they reached 65 and invest in training for careers where people could work longer.
"The worst aspect in human terms is the financial loss for many people who have no other option open to them because their contracts say they must finish," he said.
"Retirement is statistically the hardest period of readjustment, and to add financial stress to that burden is enormous.
"The department will turn a blind eye to the terms and conditions of jobseeker's so you're not forced to look for work until you hit the magic age."
However, he said the cost saving because of the lower payments being made was not enough to justify putting over-65s on the dole.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) social policy officer Laura Bambrick said a portion of the trebling of over-65s on jobseeker's benefit and means-tested jobseeker's allowance could be attributed to the increase in the size of the population in that age group. But she said most of the growth would be down to an increase in the pension qualifying age.
In a new dispatch circulated to members, Ictu describes the upcoming State pension increases as the "great pension robbery".
"Each year increase to the pension age costs workers €13,000 plus secondary benefits such as free travel and a fuel allowance," it said. "If they have a dependent spouse, it costs them an extra €11,500.
"This is the biggest ever cut to the social safety net for working people. While increases in the State pension age are taking place in many countries, Ireland is on course to have the highest pension age in the world in 2028. We are going too far, too fast."
An Age Action spokesperson claimed there was a lack of joined-up thinking by the Government. She said it had resulted in "inadequate policy planning, which unfairly impacts on older people".
"Raising the age at which people can access the State pension while not dealing with mandatory retirement practices forces people into claiming unemployment benefits," she said.
When asked how many more are expected to sign on in future years, the department said it was difficult to forecast.
"Labour market conditions, the prevailing economic conditions and individual behaviour will impact on the potential numbers," it said.
"At this time there are no indications that the numbers will change significantly over that currently in place.
Roscommon man Pat Daly (64), who lives in Galway and was employed by a multinational medical devices manufacturer most of his working life, took early retirement at 62.
But he said after receiving jobseeker's benefit for a year, his payment was cut to €90 a week and eventually stopped when he was means-tested.
"My expectation was that I'd get my full pension that I had contributed to for the last 40 years when I reached 65," said Mr Carey, who now works part-time and is a Siptu activist.
"But I was lucky that I had a private pension when I took early retirement. For the vast majority of people, they don't have that."
He said he was not on the breadline but did have to dip into his savings and worked part-time.
"My biggest concern about the abolition of the transition pension is the means-testing that will be taking place on people who will have to wait from 65 to 68 for their pension.
"They have a special hatch for you if you're older (at the social welfare office)."
He said he wanted to work but never got any calls from officials offering jobs or training.
"The only call I got was one evening at 6.50pm to call into them as regards my means. They also said to me that if my means change at any time to call in immediately. They took me off the jobseeker's completely. My understanding is that I won't receive anything again until I reach State pension age at 67. I was born in 1955 so my State pension won't be until I'm 67. If you're born after 1955, you'll be 68."
He said he felt as if he was penalised for taking early retirement and called on the Government to provide a simplified document for older people to explain the system.
He wants the Government to consider halting further increases in the pension age or at least bring in supplementary payments for those waiting for the State pension. He said certain types of workers, including those in manual jobs, should be exempt because they could not keep working.
"Nobody is thinking about this because it's only affecting a small pocket of people around the country. It's not affecting thousands every week. My fear is that there are people that are afraid to talk to anybody about it. I think some people wouldn't even sign on because they have never signed on in their life and they don't want to sign on.
"Look at what's happening in France. Why do the people in France think you work long enough at 64?"
When asked to clarify the position for those who take early retirement, a Department of Social Protection spokesperson said those already on the means-tested jobseeker's allowance at 65 would remain on it until State pension age. Those already on jobseeker's benefit, which is not means-tested, would remain on that.
