‘Disaster’ for some pensioners
SOME County Wexford pensioners suffered an immediate drop in income when the value of Sterling fell against the Euro in the aftermath of the EU exit vote.
Many of them are former seamen, now retired, who formerly worked with British ferry companies and paid social insurance in the UK as well as paying into private pensions funds during their years of employment.
The UK-linked pensioners also include many Wexford people who spent their working lives in England on con- struction sites and in factories and offices, paying taxes and stamps to the British government and who are now entitled to receive British State benefits in retirement.
Their weekly or monthly income is directly connected to the value of Sterling against the Euro.
As Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin noted, the income of UK pensioners resident in Ireland dropped overnight by 6%. Deputy Howlin said pension rights are governed by European law but when the UK is no longer subject to EU law, how will these pensions be maintained in the future, he wondered.
One of those affected is retired seafarer Tommy Cleary of St Aidan’s Crescent in Wexford who worked with British companies for more than 40 years, eventually retiring from British Rail at Rosslare Harbour in 1999.
‘ The pound dropped considerably against the Euro so naturally we’re going to suffer. There are a lot of people across Wexford receiving UK pensions. The seafarers alone would be in the hundreds,’ said Tommy, who started his seagoing career in Liverpool in 1957.
‘ There has been an immediate drop in income for anyone on a private or an old age pension from England. That includes all the people who were resident in the UK and came back home.’
‘I can’t say they won’t survive,’ said Tommy. ‘But it’s a disaster for a lot of people. Your income is being reduced at the same time as everthing else is increasing including your car insurance and your bin charges’.
(Maria Pepper)