Age Action is calling on the Government to benchmark and index the State Pension to protect older people across the region from poverty. These calls come in light of the CSO's Survey on Income and Living Conditions which shows that the number of older people at risk of poverty, nationally, has increased by 55,000 in 2022 compared to 2021.
The statistics reveal that overall risk of poverty in Ireland last year was 13.1%, but it was 19% for older persons. This means that over 140,000 older persons are living at risk of poverty - at least 55,000 more than the previous year.
Dr Nat O'Connor, Policy Specialist at Age Action, told Northern Sound the charity is concerned with the Government announcing a one-off payment for older people. He says the move serves as "a short-term solution" that does not protect older people from the effects of inflation.
"What we are calling on the Government to do is to look at the State pension. It added €12 to the State pension in January - of course that was very welcome - but it didn't go far enough.
"Inflation and the price of everything is going up so fast the €12 increase was in fact a cut in real term because there is still a gap between the spending power of the State pension and what people need to meet a minimum standard of living.
