John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the Minister and her officials for the manner in which they have presented the changes to the Christmas bonus payment. They are now comparing like with like which gives a truer reflection of the position. The Minister has said the Christmas bonus was not included in the Revised Estimates but that a decision is made, depending on the financial position of the State, in October. We need to move away from that situation because recipients of the bonus have built it into their annual expectations. It is an expensive time of year and most people do not have the capacity to get through the Christmas period without this payment. It is not a luxury, rather it has become a necessity. Therefore, we need to build it into the annual Estimates, rather than allowing it to be an optional payment that comes about by chance or good fortune.

The Minister mentioned pensions. A year ago we spoke about the anomaly for persons in receipt of a pension since 2012. That issue has not been addressed in full and there are still many people affected. Perhaps the Minister might bring us up to date on the matter. We thought it would have been completed by now. A significant number of people do not know where they stand. More importantly, we do not know when the entire process will be completed.