Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Without repeating anything I have said in the past, it is an issue in which I am interested. I want to look at all the anomalies, not just the homemaker's scheme and the whole issue of averaging. My key official in charge of this area says we will have the work done and a report prepared in the first quarter. I cannot swear to that but it is intended that we will have the report in the first quarter. It is part of the committee's work programme already and I would like to come here in the first or second quarter of next year with that report and all of the issues, options, costs, numbers, winners, losers and consequences laid out. We can then come to a decision as to whether we do something about it in the 2018 budget. Let us be honest, however, that this relates to the Social Insurance Fund and that PRSI contributions come in and payments go out. If we are going to do something that costs hundreds of millions of euro, it will impact either on those who already get benefits from the Social Insurance Fund already or those who pay PRSI and are ordinary workers and employers. Let us not pretend that a problem which could be very expensive to resolve will be paid for by some faceless bondholder somewhere. It will be paid for by those who contribute PRSI. We need to know how much it is going to be and how much it is going to cost and whether we want to impose that on people.