Pensioners with a state pension and a supplementary pension of at least €5,000 a year have been steadily losing spending power since 2010, according to research by family spending institute Nibud.

But pensioners with a company pension bringing in less than €5,000 a year have had a marginal rise in spending power over the past eight years, Nibud said. The research was commissioned by political party 50Plus and includes the likely impact of 2019.

A single person with a state pension and a private pension of €10,000 now has €59 less a month to spend than they did in 2010, Nibud calculates. This is because most supplementary pensions have not gone up in line with inflation.

Hardest hit are people with a supplementary pension of €30,000 a year. They now have €298 less a month to spend than at the beginning of this decade.