Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Irrespective of the Minister of State's comments on constraints and although welcome to a small degree, many of the pensioners I have met have said the €3 increase is derisory. It will cover the cost of an extra pan of bread and pint of milk once a week; it will be known, therefore, in the next period as the pan of bread and pint of milk increase. A pan of bread costs approximately €2, depending on where a person shops, and then there is the cost of a pint of milk. This increase will not substantially change people's position. Given the constraints, it would probably have been much better to target the money elsewhere. The duration of the fuel allowance could have been extended, with the payments for the six weeks cut from the period being reinstated. That would have had a much more substantial effect on the lives of old age pensioners and those receiving welfare payments.