{"id":261832,"date":"2026-01-28T12:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/261832\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:47:09","slug":"firefighter-overpaying-mortgage-due-to-fears-over-effects-of-pension-gap-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/261832\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefighter overpaying mortgage due to fears over effects of pension gap \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A firefighter has said she is overpaying her mortgage<\/a> every month because she fears that when she retires she won\u2019t be able to afford the repayments with her current pension. <\/p>\n

Aisling Buffini (35), living in Co Kildare, joined Dublin Fire Brigade in 2020 as a firefighter and paramedic. <\/p>\n

Ms Buffini will have to retire at 62, which is the mandatory retirement age for firefighters<\/a>, but cannot draw down her pension until she turns 66. She can only avail of social welfare payments during that four-year \u201cgap\u201d, or re-enter the job market. <\/p>\n

Siptu has said garda\u00ed, military, fire and prison service personnel who were employed since 2013 face having to go without a significant proportion of their full pensions<\/a> for years after they retire. <\/p>\n

They claim that public service pension reforms introduced in 2013 \u2013 known as the \u201csingle scheme\u201d \u2013 will particularly hit those in the uniformed services who have faster-accruing pensions, as they retire earlier than other groups on the State payroll.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of when we joined or what pension we are on, we all do the same job,\u201d said Ms Buffini on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost days I am sitting in the fire engine or an ambulance beside someone whose pension is far superior to my own \u2013 a pension that allows them to be optimistic about their financial security in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland\u2019s focus should not be pensions for the old but homes for the youngOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Ms Buffini, who is originally from Harold\u2019s Cross in south Dublin, said she was three years into a 35-year mortgage. <\/p>\n

\u201cI already have to overpay every month in an attempt to shorten that term, because when I retire I simply won\u2019t be able to afford a mortgage and bills on my pension,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have also had to start additional voluntary contributions to try to compensate for the shortcomings of the single scheme. That means less disposable income now just to try to secure a basic level of dignity in retirement. <\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers and representatives of the uniformed services including garda\u00ed, firefighters and members of Defence Forces launching a protest about pension changes mostly affecting younger members. Photograph: Alan Betson<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to start a family some day, but I have to consider that when I retire I may still have children at home or in college, because the housing market is so inaccessible. My pension will not be sufficient to support my family.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ms Buffini also said, as firefighters, they are repeatedly exposed to \u201ctrauma, injury and death\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo one can see into the future, but in this line of work there are strong indicators that many of us will face health issues later in life. For a firefighter or paramedic, retiring without significant health problems is like winning the lottery.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ms Buffini was speaking at a meeting of the Siptu<\/a> campaign Save Our Future in Marino, north Dublin, where members and representatives from all four services spoke of the financial hardship faced by personnel who retire after years of service.<\/p>\n

Siptu organiser Geoff McAvoy said the union was seeking the full restoration of the supplementary pension. <\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the last general election, promises to examine this issue were made, but these remain unfulfilled. This is an unacceptable slap in the face to thousands of dedicated frontline public service workers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been contacted for comment. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Want to retire early in Ireland? These are five habits of people who doOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A firefighter has said she is overpaying her mortgage every month because she fears that when she retires…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114,12039,268,137725,85,46,8553,13666,2955,266,267,137726],"class_list":{"0":"post-261832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-department-of-public-expenditure-and-reform","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-fire-service","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-mortgage","15":"tag-mortgages","16":"tag-pension","17":"tag-personal-finance","18":"tag-personalfinance","19":"tag-siptu"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}