Comments on Faoiseamh: Generation Pain

The thing about 'perks' such as travel passes is t...

2009-06-11T20:44:10.150+02:00

The thing about 'perks' such as travel passes is that it was alright when the number of OAPs were low compared to the earning generations but as our society gets older issues such as this, as you rightly say, will need to be re-negotiated. There should be greater use made of needs-testing and a consideration of previous payments made to the state through income-tax.

My grandparents were of the age that they paid 50% taxes and paid for all their children through secondary school and uni - free fees only came in later. They had retired before the Celtic Tiger came along so they missed out on the increased wages.

At the same time you had people earning fortunes, not paying their fair share of taxes and getting their kids through school and college for free.

I also claim what I am entitled to as the tax auth...

2009-06-11T15:54:53.981+02:00

I also claim what I am entitled to as the tax authorities tend to take way with the other hand just as readily. My point is though that people are generally very emotive on the issue of taxing older people. In Holland we have the situation where the universal public pension is being called in to question because the vast majority of people have private pension which give them far more income than the government pension. I fully expect that the universal pension will be scrapped by the time I retire even though I pay for today's pensioners. The population is greying on the one hand and those in their 50s here are the richest sector of the population as they maxed out on house price inflation and also they are the last generation to have all of the entitlements of the welfare state. In the last few years almost every beneft has been cut on a sliding scale so that those in their 30s will not benefit (one example is a very generous early retirement scheme which is no longer allowed for anybody under 50).
I agree with solidarity to an extent but between rich and poor, not young and old.

The property issue is a complex one. Jenny and I h...

2009-06-11T15:10:43.313+02:00

The property issue is a complex one. Jenny and I have done very well out of property prices over the years, moving up from a rented flat to a detached house, but it was pure luck and I guess we could just as easily have lost loads of money. We certainly couldn't have afforded much on our incomes which were very low for some years.

I get over-60 free bus travel which I don't need at all but frankly I always claim whatever I'm entitled to. It's up to the authorities to make it more restrictive if they think it's being abused. After all, I do at the same time pay a massive rates bill.

I certainly didn't join in the madness, when we lo...

2009-06-11T14:19:05.641+02:00

I certainly didn't join in the madness, when we looked at having a bigger place we examined the numbers closely and decided that an extension would cost the same as the stamp duty if we were to trade up. Needless to say we went for the extension option. I really do feel this country is governed for the middle aged, by the middle aged. And if you want to talk about earnings after retirement, let's get going good-o on the public servants, cos my pension's going to consist of a stale rolo and a used chewing gum wrapper. At this rate, I'll need me some free travel so I can get around to mugging enough retired civil servants to keep me going.