Riigikogu discussed increasing the base amount of the pension

NordenBladet —

The Bill that provides for a EUR 20 increase in the base amount of pension and the national pension from 1 January 2023 passed the second reading at the sitting today.

The Bill on Amendments to the State Pension Insurance Act (466 SE), initiated by the Government, provides that after increasing the base amount, the amount of pension for 44 work years would be close to EUR 611.

From 1 April 2021, the amount of pension for the same number of work years is EUR 552.38. The current rate of national pension is EUR 255.18. The national pension is intended for persons who do not meet the pension qualifying period requirement (15 years) by the time they reach the old age pension age.

Currently, the base amount of pension is EUR 235. All pensioners have the equal base amount of pension; this is supplemented by the part calculated on the basis of years of pensionable service, the insurance part, and the combined part, which are different for each person and depend on their number of work years and size of income.

During the debate, Kersti Sarapuu (Centre Party), Helmen Kütt (Social Democratic Party), Peeter Ernits (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), and Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) took the floor. Mart Võrklaev took the floor on behalf of the Reform Party Faction.  

The Riigikogu did not support the motion to amend of the Isamaa faction which would have increased the base amount of pension and the national pension by EUR 20 as early as from 1 January 2022. 26 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the motion and 40 were against.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
The video recording of the sitting will be available on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Source: Parliament of Estonia