According to the Minister of Finance, any changes in the state pension age or PRSI will be ‘gradual’.
aschal Donohoe spoke after Social Protection Secretary Heather Humphreys said yesterday the government will make a decision on raising the retirement age in a few months.
Despite the expectation that a decision on the recommendations of the Pensions Committee would be taken before the summer, it will probably still take several months before a formal decision is made.
“Any decision we make regarding the sustainability of the social security system, where we are with the sustainability of our pensions, will be gradual changes, but they will be changes that are going in a clear direction,” said Mr Donohoe.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Fianna Fáil faction last Friday that the retirement age should not exceed 66 and said he favors small increases in the PRSI instead.
“We are talking about a few months here, this is a decision that will affect people for the next 40, 50 years,” said Secretary Humphreys.
“It’s better that we take a few extra months to make up for it.”
The Pension Committee has recommended raising the retirement age to 67 years, but not for a number of more years.
The state pension age is currently 66 years. The committee recommended increasing it by three months per year from 2028 to 67 in 2031 and then increasing it to 68 in 2039.
It said this could be achieved in part by increasing PRSI contributions from 4pc to 11pc for the self-employed.
However, earlier this year the Joint Oireachtas Social Protection Committee voted in favor of the minimum age of 66.
Fianna Fáil TDs and senators have lobbied heavily in recent months with their party leader to keep the age of 66 after it became a major topic for the party in the 2020 general election.
However, in the 2020 general election, Fine Gael believed that the retirement age should be more flexible, with payment increasing by €25, including new payments for those retiring at 65 and 66.