In reaction to the recommendations of the Pension Working Group to Government, Alternattiva Demokratika has said said that it agrees with a number of the proposals, but disagrees with others.

Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson, said, “Having no pension reform is not an option, as this will result in increased poverty amongst pensioners. As a responsible party, AD agrees with the addition of a mandatory second pillar to the first pillar. Thus, the financial sustainability of the pensions system will not be jeopardised as people will be saving an extra amount of money that will be used solely for pension purposes and will not be used by the government for other reasons. The second pillar should, however, be introduced in a responsible manner, thus avoiding shocks in people’s quality of life. In all cases, the state should have the ultimate say in the financing of the pensions system, and this should not be decided upon by the private sector. This should be coupled with civil society and professional involvement in the policy aspect and management of the system.”

Angele Deguara, AD spokesperson for social development, added, “The requirement that one would have to have worked 40 years to be entitled to contributory pensions is not agreeable. This is especially so in this day and age of precarious employment, individualisation of life­styles and employment as well as other realities such as having people moving in and out of the labour force due to factors such as unemployment, care work and parenthood.”

Nighat Urpani, AD spokesperson for social protection and health, added, “Irrespective of the number of years worked, one should be guaranteed the right to a decent pension. The state pension should also retain its non-contributory pensions to cover groups such as those who do not form part of the labour force and those who for some reason or another cannot pay second pillar contributions for justified reasons. Such pensions, together with those for low and middle income earners should guarantee a decent quality of life. More emphasis should be made on having the lowest-paid pensions based on realistic cost-of-living calculations.”

AD’s full proposals can be viewed in full on the link below:

http://www.alternattiva.org.mt/filebank/documents/Pensions_Reform_-_AD_feedback_to_Govt_Pensions_Group.pdf.

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