There are thousands of pensioners who were employed with the government before 1979. Their employment contracts entitled them to receive (on reaching the pensionable age) a service pension from the Treasury and a Social Security pension.
Instead, they were given a service pension from the Treasury and a greatly reduced Social Security pension (circa one-third of what a person normally gets), even though they had paid all their National Insurance contributions for over 40 years and also contributed to the Widows and Orphans Fund.
Every four weeks about €500 are being deducted from their Social Security pension unfairly since the day they qualified for their pension. Furthermore, they have never received any increases to their Treasury service pension, even though during the last eight years a Scale 4 annual salary in the civil service has increased from €25,189 in 2007 to €32,239 in 2015. Have they not suffered enough?
Am I correct in saying that an MP is entitled to a service pension and a National Insurance pension without any capping after only two legislatures, and on reaching pensionable age receives two-thirds of the current salary of an MP and his full National Insurance pension?
Will any MPs promise to correct this grossly unfair discrimination between an MP and a government service pensioner?