Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry to return to an issue that has been mentioned previously, but I did not want to interrupt the previous speaker. Illness benefit is paid for two years. I know a person who suffers from leukaemia and is undergoing treatment. That person has come to the end of the two-year period and is faced with a scenario of going on disability allowance or an invalidity pension. The problem is that his job is being kept for him, but his P45 is being requested to go on to the invalidity pension. Some people are getting caught in a little trap, so are there any exceptional circumstances in which illness benefit can be extended? Is this outside the remit of the witnesses?

Are there costings for the overseas pensions being paid? If somebody went to England after working for ten years here, and if that person paid into the British system rather than the Irish system, he or she can get a pension based on a pro rata system. I know we have bilateral agreements with many countries and are paying pensions that way, but is there a costing for those?