Retirement age in Malta will remain 65 and the Government plan has been made clear to the European Commission that called for a pension reform, according to Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

If we are pressured, I can assure you that funds will not be cut from social sectors such as health and social services

Earlier this week, the Commission recommended the country be placed under an excessive deficit procedure and also made several country-specific recommendations.

Among these, it said Malta should accelerate its ongoing pension reform and link retirement age with life expectancy, which essentially means increasing the pension age.

Ms Coleiro Preca stressed yesterday the Government would not alter the retirement age.

It was putting forward other suggestions to the Commission such as maximising the productivity of women in the labour market.

There was also the electoral pledge to introduce a third pillar pension – voluntary contributions to private pension schemes – and the Government was now studying options.

“If we are pressured, I can assure you that funds will not be cut from social sectors such as health and social services,” Ms Coleiro Preca said, speaking about the eventuality that Malta could be forced by Brussels to cut public expenditure as a result of its excessive deficit situation.

The minister was speaking during the biennial general conference of the General Workers Union’s Pensioners’ Association.

She said the Government was committed to evaluate the current pension system to establish, among other things, if pensions were enough to allow for a good quality of life and ensure they were sustainable.

This would be done through consultation, she said.

A working group had been set up for this purpose.

She said that 10 years had been wasted in addressing the pension problem and, had this been addressed before, “we would be in a position to ensure that your children and grandchildren have a secure future”.