Other options considered, such as increasing state pension age or increasing the number of years required to qualify for a pension, had “no material impact” on the exhaustion date and had therefore been discarded, he said.
During an hour-long debate, a bid by Julie Edge MHK for a commitment that all people should continue to pay National Insurance (NI) contributions until reaching state pension age was rejected.
She had argued that a disparity between the length of time public sector workers and private sector workers pay into the fund was “unfair”.
Lawrie Hooper MHK said the proposals would mean younger people would be paying in the same amount to ultimately get less out of the fund, and suggested reducing contributions by 1%, which “would not have a material impact” on the fund’s exhaustion date.
He also said that all working people should pay NI even if they were above pension age.
MLC Paul Craine noted that a period of above inflation growth of wages might leave those on a pension “lagging behind in terms of living standards”.
But Allinson said the Treasury was looking to slow the rate of increase for Manx pensions to get a “better degree of intergenerational fairness and sustain the National Insurance Fund”.
He told members his department was committed to looking at a range of options through the consultation.
