Mr. Henry Gaynor:

The figure was stated in the letter sent by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, as far as I can recall. About 11,000 people per year reach the age of 65, with about 1,400 people leaving work.

The State also makes a saving in terms of social welfare payments. For example, a person on unemployment benefit receives €188 per week, so the State would save €42 per week. The people who are working argue that they have stayed the course. Perhaps some people receiving welfare were burned out by work or receive a disability allowance due to being injured. I do not see why such people should lose out either, but today I will just focus on people who are working.

As far as I can make out, the total cost of State pensions per year is €6.5 billion. As Senator Ó Clochartaigh has said, a couple of hundred thousand euro out of €6.5 billion is peanuts. It boggles the mind why people are being targeted.