Sir, –Finbarr Dolan (Letters, October 20th) refers to “pensioners left behind” and the anomalies between teachers’ pay and the old-age pension with a paltry increase of €10 per week.
During the financial crisis between 2009 and 2011, more than €20 billion was stripped from the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) to recapitalise lenders such as AIB and Bank of Ireland and support the EU/IMF rescue programme. The private sector pensions faced a controversial emergency 0.6-0.75 per cent pension levy from 2011 to 2015, which raised about €2.4 billion.
How eaten bread is soon forgotten when it comes to the retired people of Ireland who did get up early in the morning. – Yours, etc.
JOE O’FLAHERTY,
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Grattan Road,
Galway.
