The recent debates on whether or not our parliamentarians should be full-time and about the suggested substantial increases in their remuneration omit any reference to their pension system.

Service (occupational/second pillar) pensions were ‘outlawed’ in 1979 for all workers in Malta, with the exception of members of Parliament and the police. This special category of workers still enjoys an uncapped service pension. Furthermore, in the case of parliamentarians, their service pension is index-linked to future MPs’ honoraria increases (if they serve during at least two administrative periods).

The rest of the working population has to make do with a capped contributory social security (first pillar) pension, which means that, however high your salary (or declared self-employed income), your maximum permissible annual pension can only be (currently, and before tax) two-thirds of around €20,000. This is not index-linked to future salary increases, but only subject to cost-of-living increases.

Furthermore, you are not entitled to a second pension scheme organised and partly funded by your employer – if you have such a second pension (also called service/occupational/second pillar pension), you will be punished with corresponding deductions from the social security pension you contributed to – a unique form of ‘Maltese pension torture’ (unbelievable in a 21st century EU country).

The last Budget included fiscal incentives for workers who decide to set up their own private (third pillar) pension but not one that is organised and partly funded by their employer.

Private pensions, funded entirely by the workers, are obviously only open to well-paid employees and not to financially-challenged ones.

Nobody denies parliamentarians have responsible jobs, but so do many other workers. Our MPs have, however, done very little to remove the above glaring injustices to pensioners, and particularly so to those pensioners who suffer deduction of one pension from another at the hands of the Social Security Department.

Had you noticed that this country’s House of Representatives is full of professors of Christian and social democracy?

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