The announcement today that the FG/Labour coalition has decided pensioners will no be longer exempt from passport charges is disgusting and will not be forgetten by our senior citizens.

Thanks to the FF led Govt in 2005 over 65s were entitled to get their passports for free, but they will now have to pay €95, which is the new cost of a standard 10 year passport.

What is truely amazing is that the Government thinks its OK to attack pensioners to save a mere €3.6m; whilst so far has ignored Welfare and Public Service Pay, both of which cost the state €20,000m per annum!  Cracking down on welfare fraud alone would save the state a thousand times more than picking on vunerable pensioners.

According to RTE Active Retirement Ireland says the Government should reconsider its decision to reintroduce full passport fees for over 65s.

The organisation says the imposition of the fee will deter older people from renewing their passports.

Chief Executive Maureen Kavanagh said that many of its 23,000 members felt betrayed as Fine Gael and the Labour Party in opposition had promised to protect older people’s rights and entitlements.

Ms Kavanagh claims that, despite this rhetoric, the new Government was withdrawing the benefit to save what she called the ‘minimal’ sum of €3.6m annually