The three percent pension increase is “woefully inadequate” for seniors because of rising healthcare costs, according to the One Bermuda Alliance.Opposition MPs told the House of Assembly the additional funds would mean very little to seniors as most of their money continues to be swallowed up by healthcare.They said some seniors living off contributory pensions were living by candlelight as they didn’t have enough cash to pay their electricity bills.But Premier and Minister of Finance Paula Cox called the pension rise yet another example of Government’s “commitment to enhance the quality of life of our senior citizens during these difficult economic times”.A total of 10,372 pensioners currently receive a contributory pension; ranging from about $951 to $1,326 a month. These amounts will rise in August from about $982 to $1,385 per month.However, due to the economic climate employees will not have to contribute more until next August. Contributions will go up by 5.5 percent in 2012 the combined employer/employee weekly rate of $60.80 will rise to $64.12.The Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Contributions and Benefits) Order 2011 was approved in the House of Assembly on Friday. The last pension increase was five percent in August 2009.There are expected to be 7,385 people over 65 in Bermuda this year and Ms Cox said “their contributions should never be overlooked”.But Shadow Seniors Minister Louise Jackson said the pension increase wasn’t good enough as about 50 percent of seniors were living in poverty.The OBA MP said: “I’m painfully aware that Government’s pension is not able to take care of seniors living in poverty.“Three percent is woefully inadequate when it comes to everything else you have to pay for … seniors are really, really feeling the pinch.“Many of our seniors don’t have electricity, they can’t afford electricity. They are living by candlelight, they are really hurting.”Seniors on the Health Insurance Plan (HIP) pay $384 per month, while those on FutureCare pay either $375 or $635 a month depending on their age.Mrs Jackson said: “If you are a senior one of the biggest expenditures is on healthcare. That pretty much takes care of their whole pension.“Healthcare has been rising by 6.5 percent per annum, while pensions go up by just three percent.“But they still have to eat, pay their rent and pay their electricity.”She added: “If there can’t be a larger pension increase then do something to stop the soaring cost of healthcare in Bermuda.”Mrs Jackson added that seniors were looking around at the spending going on in other places, such as “bloated salaries and overseas consultants”. She said: “The people of this country know the truth … they get it and they are upset about it.”Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards also expressed concerns about whether three percent was “an adequate enough rise” in view of the cost of living. He said he recognised that living costs for seniors were higher because of increasing healthcare costs.Mr Richards also questioned the “somewhat vague reasons” for delaying the contribution increase for a year, saying it was an “input-output type of fund” that relied on investment returns.The OBA MP said we had to think about long-term rather than be swayed by short-term ideas.He said: “My concern is for the fund itself. There is a strain on pension plans worldwide … we’ve had a decade of very poor investment returns.“There hasn’t been a sufficient economic reason in the delay of increasing contributions. I wonder if the delay is to do with economics or politics.“We get out what we put in … we’re postponing our putting in and we are not getting very good investment returns.”Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons said the pension increase was “better than nothing”, but he accused Government of “overselling these things”.The OBA MP said with no pension increase last year, there had only really been a 1.5 percent increase per year over two years.Dr Gibbons said: “The seniors are slipping behind because inflation at two-three percent outpaces their 1.5 percent over two years.“With the cost of healthcare so high, it’s not going to have much of an impact at all. What we need to do is try to keep a cap on the cost of healthcare.”Dr Gibbons also called for a review of the occupation pension scheme saying it was “so important to the workforce right now”.United Bermuda Party leader Kim Swan said seniors were “now feeling it” as they were the sector of our society with the lowest disposable income.He said: “The increase will be music to many people’s ears, I know they will appreciate it.“But let’s keep it real, they aren’t going to wake up and be better off. They are still not going to be able to afford the cost of living.“We can’t pat ourselves on the back as they are still going to be hurting like they were before.”But Health Minister Zane DeSilva accused Ms Jackson of being “a little economical with the truth” saying Government had done a lot to help seniors.He said: “I’ve been hearing that pensioners should be getting four, five, six and seven times more out of us, but we all know that is just not financially feasible.“We know people are struggling and this will help tremendously. I think this increase will go a long way. We are looking at new ways to make life a little easier not only for seniors, but for all our people.”Mr DeSilva added that the healthcare plan was “progressing nicely” and the importation of generic drugs will ensure “medication costs will come right down”.Minister of Community Development Michael Weeks dismissed the idea that it was all “doom and gloom” for seniors.He said: “The Premier and Finance Minister is living on a promise that one of our key objectives is improving the life of seniors and I feel every little helps.”PLP MP Dale Butler said there had been a “cultural shift” and seniors could no longer depend as much on their families, churches or gift clubs of lodges.He said: “Seniors will thank the Government for the increase, they will appreciate it will assist them.”Environment Minister Walter Roban added that the increase would “make a real difference in the lives of pensioners”.Youth, Families and Sports Minister Glenn Blakeney accused the Opposition of “speaking out of both sides of their mouth”.He questioned why they couldn’t simply support “good legislation” instead of having to look for ways to criticise.He said Government “of course” wanted to give more than three percent but was doing what it could.“Sometimes it’s just nice to be nice,” he said. “We always say it’s nice to be important but for us, in this context, as elected members to serve our people, it’s important to be nice.”Deputy Premier Derrick Burgess said people needed to remember that this particular pension was designed to assist with living costs.“Even the socialist countries that have a nice large pension, even there the recipients there complain about the pension,” he said. “Ours is not so bad. The value of a pension is determined by the contributions and how long that pension has been in existence.”The Public Works Minister acknowledged that for some seniors the pension alone wouldn’t be enough and said those folks could get help at the Department of Financial Assistance.PLP backbencher Walter Lister said he remembered the days before pensions when people finished work and “the last salary they got, that was it”.He said: “Family and friends tried to do the best they can to help that person along. Those days have gone. This Government tries to assist persons with the pensions. The seniors appreciate it.”Mr Lister said he wasn’t clear on what objection the Opposition actually had to the increase.Ms Cox said the contributory pension fund was “in good financial shape and is continuing to get stronger in the current market”.She said: “Based on our analysis, the cash flow position of the Contributory Pension Fund will remain slightly positive in 2011/12.“We anticipate contributions to exceed benefits for 2011/12 by approximately $2 million.“The Progressive Labour Party Government is nurturing to the Contributory Pension Fund and tending to the needs of our seniors.”She added that the Contributory Pension Fund had total assets of over $1.43 billion as of March 31, representing approximately 12 times the annual value of benefits to be paid in the 2011/12 fiscal year.“If we had to close down and stop taking contributions today, we’d still be in a position to pay pensions for 12 years,” said the Premier.Ms Cox closed the debate by citing the pension increases pushed through by the PLP Government since it came to power: three percent in 2000, 2002 and 2003; nine percent in 2004; 3.5 percent in 2005; four percent in 2006; 4.5 percent in 2007; and five percent in 2008 and 2009.She said she attended an event for seniors last week and found them to be happy with Government.“They are wise and they know the track record of this Government,” she said. “We didn’t have to do some of the things that we have done.”The Premier said she wasn’t pretending the three percent increase was a “bouquet or cornucopia of plenty” for the “silver generation”.But she added: “I know it’s showing a sensitivity to those who have given much.”