Several years ago the States voted to gradually increase the age at which the pension can be claimed, from 65 to 67 by 2031.
And Treasury Minister Alan Maclean last week told the JEP that the age could be increased further to cut States costs.
However, he did not disclose an age limit or a date at which the changes could take effect.
Former States Senator Sarah Ferguson claims that many people over the age of 50 are already struggling to find work and raising the pension age again will place more pressure on Islanders in that age group.
‘A lot of organisations seem to prefer younger, cheaper labour, but older staff bring experience and can show the younger ones what to do.’
Mrs Ferguson also said that the States needed to take into account people who work in jobs where they cannot continue to work into old age.
‘People like the police and the firefighters can’t work too long because of the physical side of their job – it’s not like someone working in an office,’ she said.
However, Age Concern chairman Daphne Minihane said that while increasing the pension age might not be popular, a lot of older people were healthier nowadays and would like to work longer.
She said: ‘I have spoken to a lot of people in the past who have said to me: “I didn’t want to retire but I had to.”
‘I think some – but not all – people are able to work longer these days as their health has improved generally.
‘Many of them want to keep working until they are 70 or more so they can bring in more income than they would get on their pension.
‘And I know some employers have older employees and prefer them to younger staff, as they are more reliable.’
Another former Senator, Ben Shenton, also described proposals to reduce public sector pension costs by basing them on career-average earnings rather than final salaries as ‘smoke and mirrors’ and said the measures would not raise much money.
IF, for a minute, we park the question of how the Island got into this fine financial mess and call a halt on the blame game, there are some serious questions to be asked about whether the proposed road map to recovery is being followed.
At the last count, the projected potential black hole stood at £145 million and we now know how the Council of Ministers proposes to reduce the deficit while also focusing extra spending on education, health, the regeneration of St Helier and fostering economic growth.
Wind the clock back a few months and the direction of travel was clear. Treasury Minister Alan Maclean said that new taxes would be a last resort. The focus was on cutting spending and finally bringing in check the cost of a burgeoning civil service.
That was not a comment on the quality of many hard-working and highly skilled people working for the States, but a statement of the obvious. The public sector could be more efficient, and everyone knew it.
Last week, the Medium Term Financial Plan was released and in it a raft of measures aimed at filling the black hole. There were cuts here and cuts there, many unpopular, but all aimed at a very necessary goal.
There were also proposed new charges for health and the disposal of sewage. Maybe not taxes in the semantics of political debate, but very definitely new taxes to everyone else.
Today, we learn from Senator Maclean that the age at which Islanders are entitled to a States pension might rise – again.
The question is whether there has been a distinct, but underplayed, change of tack?
Have ministers really gone as far down the path of efficiencies and savings in the public sector as they led us to believe they would all those months ago?
Has Kevin Keen, a man brought in with a clear remit to bring some private-sector reality to the States bureaucratic monster, had his wings clipped by the mandarins who run this Island? Has he been denied the details he needs?
Yet again, Islanders are left seeking reassurance from their government in the face of a communication strategy which tells only part of the story. There seems to be a strange siege mentality among those on the upper floors of Cyril Le Marquand House. If there are people banging on their door downstairs, it is because they want information not blood.
