Pensioners of An Post and Eir (Eircom) will stage a mass demonstration outside Leinster House tomorrow at 1.00pm in protest at what they say is an inordinate delay by the Minister for Communications, Patrick O’Donovan TD, in authorising pension increases that the two companies agreed with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) last July and September respectively.
The protest is being organised by the CWU that represents workers in both companies and it is being supported by various pensioner groups.
Under the rules of the pension schemes, the companies can agree increases with the CWU but they cannot pay them until the Ministers for Communications and for Public Expenditure and Reform authorise them.
Between them, the companies have almost 20,000 pensioners.
In the case of Eir pensioners, approval to pay the agreed increase of 2.1% effective from 1st July 2025 was submitted to Minister O’Donovan on 8th August 2025. In An Post, agreement to pay 6% from 1st January 2025 and 1% from 1st June 2025 was submitted to the Minister in mid-October for authorisation.
Seán McDonagh, General Secretary of the CWU wrote to the Minister in November and again in December asking him “to have the approval process expedited to ensure payments to the pensioners and their families before Christmas 2025”. The union also conducted a postcard campaign by pensioners to the Taoiseach before Christmas but to no avail. In recent days the Minister told the Dail that he cannot provide a time-line for his authorisation.
Mr McDonagh pointed out that the fund is in a very healthy state with a surplus of €345m. So much so, that An Post made no contribution to the fund in 2025 which means that in effect the pensioners are subsidising the operations of the company.
Significantly, he told the Minister that once the increases were agreed with the companies, they went through a rigorous process involving actuaries and the company boards of directors. “The increases will cost the companies nothing and it is also at no cost to the exchequer. There is no financial justification whatsoever for this delay”, he said.
When Deputy Cian O’Callaghan raised the delay in payment at Leader’s Questions in the Dail last Tuesday, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, told him: “There is an issue that needs to be sorted quickly. Both Ministers tell me that there is not an issue but there clearly is”.
Thousands of pensioners are expected to gather at Leinster House on Tuesday when it is likely that they will be supported by many TDs and Senators who are familiar with the problem.
Many of these pensioners are on low level pensions and have an income less than the state pension. The level of the increases in An Post is a once-off because increases in the company since 2014 are capped at 2% or CPI whichever is the lower. Obviously, that level of increase is far from keeping pace with the cost of living which is another reason why these pensioners are so frustrated and angry at the Minister’s delay.
The anger about the long delay was demonstrated in Mr McDonagh’s letter to the Minister on 9th December when he wrote: “Such tardiness, which pensioners are subjected to annually, is indicative of a dysfunctional Department lacking direction and leadership and portrays government as having no regard for pensioners or their service to the state. While accepting a level of governance, pensioners do not deserve such shoddy treatment”.
Interestingly, the Minister in a hands-off approach has claimed in response to several Parliamentary Questions in recent months that the operation of the An Post Pension Scheme is a matter for the company, the trustees and staff representatives. However, the falsehood of that is revealed in how he controls the scheme through approving it on its creation; approving any changes in it; and giving his authorisation, with the concurrence of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, before the company can pay what it has agreed to with the CWU and other unions.
Matt Moran, who is a pensioner of An Post, says the cumbersome process was put in place by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in 2021. “In addition to officials in the two Departments checking and analysing what the company and unions have agreed after a rigorous process involving actuarial analysis and reports to the Pensions Authority, it also involves NewERA which is part of the National Treasury Management Agency,” he said.
“That’s all done in the name of governance and accountability but, in reality, it is over-kill that is causing financial hardship to many pensioners who rely solely on their pension income. Remarkably, An Post can increase wages but it cannot increase pensions. No Minister has explained why there is a need for a ‘treble lock’ on pension increase,” he added.
“The Minister is practising avoidance in disclaiming his controlling responsibility and direct involvement, and he is misleading the Dail”, Mr Moran said. “The result is that pensioners have to take to the streets in the current adverse weather conditions to highlight the ridiculous delay and the arrogant attitude of this Minister. We thank the CWU for organising the protest”.