Pensions to increase by €4.50 per week

Old age pensions will increase for the fourth year in a row, with 92,000 pensioners netting €21 million more between them.

Budget 2019 proposes a weekly increase of €4.50 in pensions, inclusive of COLA. This means that pensions will be adjusted upwards by €2.17 per week over and above COLA.

The 2,200 people in receipt of a service pension will get a significant boost of €11 per week, over and above COLA.

Elderly people, mostly women, who did not have enough NI contributions to qualify for a pension, will see the annual bonus increase to €200 and €300, respectively, from €150 and €250.

The maximum tax free pensionable income will be retained at €13,000, as will the

€300 annual bonus for the 29,000 people who are over 75 and live at their home.

The government will once again issue a savings bond, with an above-market coupon targeted specifically at the elderly. In 2018, there were 14,000 elderly people who took up the 65+ government bond.

The means test for those applying for a carers allowance, to look after sick family members, will be removed and if the person being looked after is 85 and older, no medical tests will be necessary on the patient. The carers allowance, which increased to €140 per week this year, will not change in 2019.