If you have reached retirement age and decide to keep on working because you cannot cope with your pension only, the government ‘rewards’ you by robbing you €3,000 plus from your pension.

It works out as follows: they add your annual pension to the salary you are declaring and paying tax on and, by a simple formula, you are extorted of over €3,000 and more annually and given two and a half months to pay the bill. If you do not pay within that period, you are slammed with a 0.54 per cent monthly interest.

Yes, this is the help the government gives you… helping itself to the pension you worked so hard for. To add insult to injury, we are constantly hearing how pensioners should be helped out because they cannot cope with the cost of living. What a farce!

Last year’s Budget absolved pensioners earning up to €13,000 from paying tax. This was a misleading play on words. As soon as you exceed that €13,000 limit, your pension immediately becomes taxable. I have just received my bill for €3,018.

So, please, do not be misled by the senseless, hypocritical garble we receive from Parliament related to pensioners.

It is all a farce.