Updated 4.48pm with Arnold Cassola reaction below,
The government plans on making gradual changes to the pension system to ensure those born before 1962 are not penalised, Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon said on Tuesday.
Falzon's promise, made at a press conference on Tuesday, tacitly acknowledges an anomaly highlighted by independent candidate Arnold Cassola earlier this year.
Cassola had warned that a new limit for post-1962 pensioners introduced during the 2023 budget would effectively “freeze” the pensions of people born before 1962 and keep them at the same rates.
Those born before 1962 pensioners would end up receiving some €350 a month less than their younger counterparts, Cassola warned.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Falzon said that it is not that the government is “freezing” pensions, but rather that the Labour Party in government is attempting to fix the “great injustices” left behind by the Nationalist Party.
Falzon said that the government was now working to fix the anomaly.
“Firstly, we are going to recognise in law that all pensioners should receive increases in the same way and in the same amounts, as has been happening since 2018,” he said.
“Secondly, we are going to see that gradually, over a number of years, the highest pensionable income for those born before 1962 starts increasing at a more elevated pace than those who were born after 1962 in order to catch up.”
Falzon did not provide any further details about the planned changes.
Labour MP Romilda Zarb added that the PN is not credible on social issues and said the Labour government has helped families and pensioners.
In a statement later on Tuesday, the PN said that rather than working to address the pension anomaly, Robert Abela’s government is more keen on slinging partisan attacks on the Opposition.
The PN, they said, has long been ready to implement a pensions packet that addresses all the injustices that the Labour Party is incapable of addressing, despite having been in government for the past 10 years.
Cassola welcomes promise of change after having been 'called a liar'
In a reaction Arnold Cassola said that it was good that Michael Falzon had now realised the big anomaly created between pensioners born pre-1962 and post-1962.
"His first knee-jerk reaction when I brought up the subject had been to call me a liar. Now the Minister has pledged to bring pre-1962 pensions in line with post-1962 ones. This is excellent news," Cassola said.
He noted however that the changes will be brought in gradually over a number of years.
"The question that arises is: will changes be made over 2-3 years, which is reasonable? Or will it be over a longer span of years, thus meaning that today's eldest pensioners will not see the fruits of these changes? Minister Falzon would do well to clarify and set pensioners' minds at rest," Cassola said.