This is scaremongering Brendan. The SIF has been in deficit on and off a few times and the Exchequer had funded it. The SIF is not run on actuarial principles like in other countries. Very few people even know what it is.In ten or twenty years, the Social Insurance Fund will go bust and the "Contributory" OAP will be means tested.
I fully expect this rate to change in coming years, as it should. The self-employed get far too generous a deal with PRSI.The self-employed will contribute 4% of their salary to the Social Insurance Fund.
I agree RE self employed. They are a much softer target when times are hard, so yes, their rates are almost certainly going to be raised, especially now that they have so much more benefit.This is scaremongering Brendan. The SIF has been in deficit on and off a few times and the Exchequer had funded it. The SIF is not run on actuarial principles like in other countries. Very few people even know what it is.
When I draw the state pension (decades from now!) I fully expect it to be lower in real terms, harder to qualify for, and paid out from an age closer to 70. But I am very certain that a full working life will get a contributory state pension that is not means tested.
I fully expect this rate to change in coming years, as it should. The self-employed get far too generous a deal with PRSI.