Holders of non-contributory pensions will receive increases of up to €21 a week from today as part of a wider reform of the pension system.
For the first time, non-contributory pensioners will be able to earn up to €100 a week without affecting their pension entitlements, and further increases in the earnings allowance will be made in future years, according to Minister for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan.
Mr Brennan also announced the "modernisation" of a wide number of social welfare schemes. The old-age pension, first introduced in Ireland by Lloyd George in 1908, will now be called the State pension. Unemployment assistance/benefit is being renamed as Jobseeker's allowance/benefit, and disability benefit will henceforth be known as illness benefit.
The changes, which were first announced in last December's budget, will benefit over 34,000 non-contributory pensioners. These will receive increases ranging from €2.50 a week to €20.80 a week, with the largest number - over 25,000 - getting an extra €12.50. The new rules mean that non-contributory pensioners will be allowed to have capital of up to €35,000 and still qualify for a pension at maximum rate for a single person.
Age Action Ireland welcomed the changes but called for significant increases in the basic pension to take more older people out of poverty.
Michael O'Halloran, of the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament, said: "This is a big step in the direction of giving dignity back to people on non-contributory pensions. Allowing them to do some work without affecting their pensions offers opportunities for social contact and getting out of the house."
However, the Irish Farmers' Association described the €100 a week income disregard for non-contributory pensioners as discriminatory because it was not available to farmers, who are regarded as self-employed. A spokesman said the IFA would be raising the issue in pre-budget submissions.
Mr Brennan described the introduction of a standard non-contributory pension for those over 66 years as an important advance in the streamlining of the pension system.
Referring to the name changes, he said the term "old age" was outdated because it greatly undervalued the capacities and potential contribution to society of thousands of older people.
"The very use of the description 'old-age pensioners' has unfairly categorised and pigeonholed entire generations of our older people and has created generalised stereotypes of older people as being in some way dependent and so no longer in a position to call on their experience and ability to continue to make a positive contribution to society".
The Jobseeker's benefit had been so renamed to reflect the increased emphasis on support measures designed to help people get back into employment.
"The change from disability benefit to illness benefit is to more accurately reflect the fact that the vast majority of claims for this payment are by people who are temporarily ill from their employment but who make a complete recovery and return to work."
