Mr. Henry Gaynor:

These figures have been put forward by ICTU. Actually, no, they come from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. It reckoned there were 1,390 such people in 2012. Presumably, the person who makes it all the way has fully contributed to PRSI or, before that was introduced in 1979, stamps for 40 or 50 years. Such people feel that they have fully contributed what was asked of them. They worked through the recession in the 1980s and paid penal tax rates but, when coming to retirement, are told from out of the blue that, sorry, they will not get a pension.