INDEPENDENT TD Michael Lowry has thrown down the gauntlet to the government by insisting that any move to cut the Old Age Pension in next month’s Budget will not be passed by the Dáil.

With the government dependant on the votes of Lowry and his independent colleague Jackie Healy-Rae in the Dáil, with its majority now down to three ahead of the Donegal South-West by-election in two weeks’ time, Lowry’s declaration effectively means that he will withdraw his voting support for the government if it attempts to cut the pension in next month’s Budget.

Social protection minister Éamon Ó Cuív has since insisted, however, that the pension may – as all other aspects of government expenditure – be identified as an area in which government savings could be made.

“There are people over 65 who have pension pots that are literally worth millions of euro, so you cannot say that in all measures in the budget – tax and otherwise – that any particular income is absolutely immune to cutbacks,” Ó Cuiv told reporters, according to the Irish Times.

“To say that no one over 65 years can afford to make a contribution is patently nonsense.”

The Green Party is also known to be against a cut to the old age pension, and TV3 last week reported that it was ‘almost certain’ the pension would remain uncut in the Budget, which is now less than four weeks away.