Michael Falzon’s article on pensions (January 30), instead of focusing on the elephant in the room – how pre-1962 born pensioners are being short-changed today – ended up being the usual self-praising logorrhea on how generous the Labour government has always been with pensioners.
An article intended for his faithful and servile “bonġu ministru” followers, but certainly not for the many free-thinking Maltese who actually do make use of their intellectual faculties.
Of course, since the Labour government was elected 11 years ago, all pensioners benefitted every year. But boasting about a €15 weekly increase this year as if it were manna falling from heaven is simply ridiculous: €13 of it were already spent last year because of the rising cost of living.
The extra two euros are simply peanuts. This weekly pension increase is simply not enough to cover the continuous price rises of essential groceries and pharmaceuticals.
Yet, the minister insists that the latest Financial Estimates indicate that, in 2024, the allocation for retirement pensions alone is €796 million, the highest ever sum. Well, if there is so much money available, why did Falzon not allocate the full €82 weekly shortfall to pre-1962 born pensioners, instead of the measly €9.47?
Falzon tries to justify the measly €9.47 by shoving full responsibility for the anomaly on the PN: “There is also the added issue that, depending on the year when someone was born (the anomaly created in 2006 by a Nationalist administration), the person who paid the highest rate will have paid it on a much lower amount of income than someone born after 1962.”
True, that the anomaly existed since 2006, ergo unnoticed for seven years of a PN administration. But the PL has been now in government for almost 11 years. What did Falzon do to redress the anomaly in all this time? Was the minister just concerned with secretly removing the capping on permanent secretaries’ pensions during these 10 years? Did it have to be me to raise the alarm over this anomaly last year and to wake the minister from his sweet slumber?
Falzon should stop acting as if he is doing the pre-1962 pensioners a favour. He’s being grossly dishonest with this group and attempting to give us all the impression that everyone is going to benefit. This is not true. This section of the population have worked their hearts out all their lives by paying all their contributions in order to be able to live the last part of their lives in a decent way. They, therefore, fully deserve a pension for 2024 living standards and not for a 1999 one.
The crux of the issue is about the pre-1962 anomaly for all the pensioners (including mothers) in this age group. The minister stated in his article that: “The process of granting up to a €9.47 weekly increase to those born before 1962 and who are on the maximum pension is gradual and is being carried out by the Department of Social Security over the coming weeks.”
What the minister has conveniently omitted is that the €9.47 is just one-ninth of the whole sum due. It should be about €82 per week or €350 per month. So, not only has he decided not to give the whole sum of money owed to this group of pensioners but he makes it sound like manna coming down from heaven. To those who will be benefitting, “gradual” is simply not good enough. It should be the whole sum or, at least, a substantial amount for 2024.
Michael Falzon should stop acting as if he is doing the pre-1962 pensioners a favour- Arnold Cassola
Secondly, this partial compensation only addresses those on maximum pension. Falzon states: “Finally, it is important to mention another important reform that affected pensioners among others, and which has already improved their purchasing power, namely the extension of the eligibility of the additional mechanism against the cost of living. Before the recent changes, most pensioners did not qualify for this benefit while, now, they do. This benefit ranges from €100 to €1,500 annually per household.”
Those on minimum are being duped with this yearly compensation which, when divided by 52, amounts to an insignificant weekly amount (€15-€19 on average), which is an insult to human dignity. If the minister wants to be taken seriously, and if he really wants to get these families out of the poverty they live in, he should substantially increase the compensation for minimum pension holders.
All the above is not only unjust but also absurd. Thanks to the minister’s line of reasoning, thousands of pre-1962 born pensioners will not be getting a single cent to compensate for the anomaly. Those who qualify will instead get the €9.47 and will have to wait nine years, at the present rate, for the anomaly to be finally redressed.
Thus, the total denied to pre-1962 pensioners until 2031, summing up all nine years, will be €20,695, as per following table:
2023: €82 per week x 52 = €4,264 short
2024: €4,264 - €491.40 = €3,772.60 short
2025: €3,281.2 short
2026: €2,789.80 short
2027: €2,298.4 short
2028: €1,807 short
2029: €1,315.6 short
2030: €824.2 short
2031: €332.80 short
So, hard luck to pre-1962 mothers, who only get 50 per cent of what post-1962 mothers will get, tough luck to those without the maximum pension, and good luck to the others who manage to survive till 2031, when they will finally be at par with post-1962 born pensioners.
Still, however, unable to reach the pension standards of Falzon and his fellow ministers and MPs, who will all be enjoying a full two-thirds uncapped pension of their ministerial or parliamentary salary. This is indeed handsome and generous.
Malta Ġusta, indeed.
Arnold Cassola is a former secretary general of the European Green Party and an independent candidate at next June’s MEP elections.