Danny Healy-Rae urges urgent action for fair pensions
Danny Healy-Rae spoke in support of a bill to secure fair pensions and to ensure pensioners are included in negotiations, thanking Deputy Smith for bringing it forward. He argued pensioners and retired workers have been denied adequate pensions and a voice, and he urged the minister not to delay action.
Support for the bill
He said he wanted to support the bill and thanked Deputy Smith for bringing it forward, arguing that as things stand pensioners have no rights to be included in negotiations and that this is "very, very wrong." He called for guaranteed, adequate and fair pensions once a person reaches 65 years of age.
Groups highlighted
He named several groups affected in his remarks, thanking former ESP workers who "came out in the dark of night and got turned on the pole," Telecom workers, local authority staff who cleared roads and felled trees, forestry workers who worked long hours in difficult conditions, and the women of Ireland who raised the current generation.
Appeal to the minister
He appealed directly to the minister not to "kick this any further away" or delay the measure, stressing that many of the affected people are now at a vulnerable stage and time is not on their side.
Urgency and consequences
He warned that many who gave long service and dedication have not been treated fairly with their pensions and are appealing for fair play and for proper increases to be applied as they fall due.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I want to support this bill as well and thank Deputy Smith for bringing forward this very important bill because as it is pensioners have no rights to be included in negotiations and that is very, very wrong. We need to ensure that once a person reaches 65 years of age that they have a pension and that they have an adequate pension and a fair pension and that has not been happening indeed and pensioners have not had a voice so they need to be allowed and we thank the former ESP workers who give valuable service and who came out in the dark of night and got turned on the pole. We want to thank the Telecom workers as well as that. Local authority workers going back when roads were blocked in the middle of the night and trees across the roads they came out and now they are at a vulnerable stage and time is not on their side and I am asking the Minister not to kick this any further away from him or not to delay it because time is not on those people's side. The women of Ireland that raised the current generation they haven't been treated fairly or adequately with their pensions. Many, many people who gave their lives and gave such dedication have not been seen after properly. The forestry workers and God do I know how hard they worked for Quilte and for the state at the time when the state. Whether it was early or late they worked from the start to the finish from 8 o'clock till 5 o'clock in the evening no stop and with midges and every other misfortune on top of them they worked and they didn't stop and they are appealing now for fair play. And I am here on their behalf asking that they be included and get their proper increases as they fall due.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
