Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As another victim of the non-issuing of money messages, I also want to express my frustration. I am very glad that the Minister feels our frustration. There is another aspect to this. I take the Minister's point about issuing a money message but she said in her response that, in order for a money message to be issued, the Bill must have gone through pre-legislative scrutiny. Who decides on submitting a Bill to pre-legislative scrutiny? I have a number of Bills that have not even reached that level.

I think the Minister will agree that whatever the form of total contributions system, it will still leave some people at a disadvantage who are currently disadvantaged in terms of the 2012 rules. Some may look at the new scheme and decide they would be better off under the total contributions scheme while others will not be. I was delighted to hear the Minister say she hopes to be in a position to fix this problem in the very near future - in the coming weeks or months, as she said. We are talking here about elderly people. I know the Minister is conscious of that and that they do not actually have all the time in the world. I welcome this move and we will keep engaging with the Minister on the matter.