Pensions Admission Shows Government Has Hoisted White Flag on Housing. – Tóibín
Speaking on the latest scheme to bailout the housing crisis, Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín said “This is an admission of failure by the Government. They have run the white flag up the mast on housing. They need to go”.
An Teachta Tóibín: “It is telling of how little confidence the government have in their own ability to solve the housing crisis, that new pensions policies are being amended to account for an eternal rental crisis. The legacy of FFG on housing will have been to make home ownership a dream only for the privileged and the few. FFG have dragged their feet on autoenrollment, but the new plan will see billions of euro of future pensions being paid to landlords. In other words, stealing from the pensioner, to give to the landlord. Tens of thousands of pensioners are in poverty across this island already, with a third of prospective pensioners to be wholly reliant on the state for their pension. Pensions are the sole source of income for those no longer working, with money already getting tighter with the rising cost of living. A growing number of pensioners will be hit with increasing instability and financial pressure as they become reliant on the unpredictability of the rental market.
“This short-term policy is also discounting the current cost of living, housing and inflation crises which are hammering the ability for people to afford rent or a mortgage, let alone make pension contributions. Average national rent is more than €1,500 per month with it surpassing €2,000 in Dublin (if you can find a property to rent). Less than 1,400 homes were available to rent across the entire country at the start of 2022 – whilst rents have risen by more than 10% in a year. Quite simply the average rent is out of reach of minimum wage workers both in and outside of Dublin. Inflation is at 6% and rising. Fuel and energy costs are skyrocketing. Childcare is a second mortgage. The list of costs go on and continue to rise. To raid the retirement plan of pensioners has the potential to exacerbate pension poverty and pensioner reliance on the state for their sole source of income.”
