Report examining qualifying age for State pension delayed

A commission set up to examine the State pension regime has missed its target date for delivering its report on issues such as the qualification age.

Competing political promises over when someone should qualify for the State pension were one of the key debates in last year’s general election.

It led to the Coalition deferring the planned rise of the pension age to 67 - which was due to happen this year - while the Pensions Commission considered the issue.

The commission was due to present Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys with a report on its work - as well as options and recommendations for any overhaul of the system - by June 30th.

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However, the Department of Social Protection now says it does not expect the Minister to bring the report to Cabinet until after the Dáil's summer recess.

The programme for government committed to establishing the commission to examine sustainability and eligibility issues with State pensions and the Social Insurance Fund (SIF).

Pressure

Ireland’s aging population is set to put pressure on the SIF due to the increasing demand for pensions in the decades ahead.

The Dáil was told last month that the deferral of the planned increase in the pension age from 66 to 67 while the commission examined the issue would cost €221 million this year.

The commission - which was set up in November - is to outline options for Government on issues like qualifying age, contribution rates, total contributions and eligibility requirements.

Sources said the complexity of the issues involved and the challenges presented by Covid-19 and working remotely contributed to the delay in the report being delivered. It was also suggested that the commission being established in November presented a tight timeframe if it was to report by June 30th.

Minutes of the commission meeting on June 23rd say that it had completed its deliberations in accordance with the timeline in its terms of reference “but it will take some additional weeks to finalise the text of its report.”

A department statement said the commission is “progressing well with its work” but added: “It is understood that the commission intends to meet at the end of July with a view to finalising the text of its report to the Minister.

“Some weeks will be required after that to complete its production before it can be submitted to the Minister.

“Assuming everything goes to plan the Minister would hope to be in a position to bring the final report and recommendations to Government shortly after the summer recess with a view to publishing thereafter.”

Taking action

The statement said the Government will need time to work through the commission’s recommendations and make decisions while noting it has committed to taking action within six months of the receipt of the report.

In 2011, the Fine Gael-Labour coalition legislated for the phased increase in the age at which people could access the State pension.

The age was increased to 66 from 2014 and it was to rise to 67 from January 1st of this year before rising to 68 from January 1st, 2028.

Sinn Féin injected the pensions issue into last year’s general election campaign by pledging to lower the age for the State pension back to 65.

Fianna Fáil promised to postpone the rise in the pension age to 67 and Fine Gael spoke of a "transition payment" to those retiring at 66 until they reach the planned new pension age of 67.