Budget 2020, Another tenner or is it twenty

Ago1960

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It shouldn't be hard to believe. People are living longer, so there are more pensioners every year. They get the biggest slice of the welfare budget.

And most of these pensioners have contributed all of their working lives to the system and as such are entitled .

Hotblack Desiato

Keyzer wrote: »

Perhaps you should open google and look for the report yourself - unbelievable laziness.

No, unbelieveable laziness is claiming a report backs up what you're saying while refusing to link to it or even provide relevant quotes from it.

dxhound2005

Ago1960 wrote: »

And most of these pensioners have contributed all of their working lives to the system and as such are entitled .

A common misunderstanding is that they are building up individual pension pots with their contributions. But their taxes are used up during their working lifetimes to pay current pensions, not provide for their future pensions. And to pay for all the other expenditure. Often the tax take is not enough, and that necessitates borrowing to fill the gap. Which is where the high national debt came from.

There are changes happening already, with the gradual increase in the pension age. And in future workers will have to pay to build up their own pension pots, because demographic changes will make the current system unsustainable.

The number of people aged over 65 is projected to increase from one in eight to one in six by 2030 while the number of people aged above 85 is projected to almost double.

At the same time the number of people in the workforce compared to those in retirement will fall, putting a greater strain on public finances.

Even with the gradual increase in the retirement age to 68 by 2028 there will be more than 1.4 million people eligible to claim a State pension by 2055.

This compares to 586,000 people who were eligible in 2015.

The report warns: "The task of financing increasing pension spending will fall to a diminishing share of the population as projections indicate the ratio of people of working age to every person aged over State pension age will reduce from its current rate of 4.9:1 to 2.3:1 over the next 40 years."

Fr_Dougal

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

Chemotherapy drugs are enormously expensive too. Paying taxes on your cigarettes is a good way of contributing in advance towards inevitable future health bills.

I'd sooner get annoyed about that than about single parents or the dole, tbh. The sheer entitlement of smoking your brains out, evading tobacco taxes and then expecting the state to pay tens of thousands for your treatment.

How would you feel about people on the dole smoking and evading tobacco taxes then expecting the State to pay tens of thousands on their treatment? :eek:

Mad_maxx

scamalert wrote: »

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Explain?

explain what ? That according to poster pensioners are living, the dream life ? 250 avg a week for non contributory is f all.

That's just the cash payment, the litany of additional benefits leave it worth at least 400,everything bar food is subsidised to some degree

Mad_maxx

Ago1960 wrote: »

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It shouldn't be hard to believe. People are living longer, so there are more pensioners every year. They get the biggest slice of the welfare budget.

And most of these pensioners have contributed all of their working lives to the system and as such are entitled .

That meme is getting old

Quantum Erasure

...like our population

Hotblack Desiato

The solution to the pensions crisis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2vx_RCwSs

twowheelsonly

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

Chemotherapy drugs are enormously expensive too. Paying taxes on your cigarettes is a good way of contributing in advance towards inevitable future health bills.

I'd sooner get annoyed about that than about single parents or the dole, tbh. The sheer entitlement of smoking your brains out, evading tobacco taxes and then expecting the state to pay tens of thousands for your treatment.

What about the people that never smoked ? Who pays for their cancer treatment ? At least smokers contribute €1bn in takes towards their treatment
Only one in five people smoke but one in two are expected to get cancer during their lifetimes. Certain types of cancer are associated with smoking but it's rare that any Doctor or medical professional will say with 100% confidence that it was definitely smoking that caused Mr Xs' cancer. Not trying to justify it at all BTW, but I've been smoking for 42 years and would be happiest if I had never started but I am where I am unfortunately

(Just out of interest, Sweden, one of the healthiest countries in the world and the lowest rate of smokers in Europe - 20 smokes cost €5. Belgium on the other hand, which has the highest rate of smokers in Europe is also €5 for 20.)

Ireland has the third highest rate of Cancer in the world and the blame is apportioned between Smoking, drinking, obesity, sun, poor diet and lack of exercise.

Hotblack Desiato

The link between cancer and smoking is far greater than the other risk factors you mentioned. Half of smokers will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses.

"But my grandad lived to be 99 and smoked all his life"

(a) Learn statistics.
(b) What about quality of life? My mother's aunt was a fiend for the John Player Special and lived until well into her 80s. But the last 20 years of her life were an increasingly distressing and miserable existence of doctors, lengthy hospital admissions each winter, endless tests, struggling for breath, oxygen therapy. She was housebound on oxygen plumbed around her home, in the end. Used to take the oxygen mask off and have a puff.

If she'd never smoked then she may well have died at a similar age, but had much better quality of life and consumed a fraction of the health service resources.

CobraClan

Brendan Bendar wrote: »

Could you perhaps give a few links or back up for those points?

Why are there so many Nigerians in Ireland? No war going on there or in India, Pakistan or Brazil.

CobraClan

punisher5112 wrote: »

Ok but they still are actually rich just not spreading this wealth and are more then happy to see their people die.

Us giving more money is actually just giving more to the rich...

That's already happening here in Ireland!