Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Lawler, Ms Behan and Mr. Cullen for the presentations and overviews provided. Mr. Cullen answered a chunk of the questions I had in the context of the earlier contributions. Much of the focus seems to be only on the pension. Have other social welfare payments been examined in this context, aside from the pensions? I refer to payments made to younger people, jobseeker's payments, the working family payment. WFP, etc. Has all the focus in this process been on people of pension age? Equally, in respect of side benefits, such as the fuel allowance and medical card and those qualifying thresholds, has consideration been given to indexing them as well, or is there a narrow focus on the pension rate itself? I ask for some details on this point. Turning to another matter, is it only the State pension being considered in regard to this process or is there also scope for making changes to semi-State pensions, such as those paid by Aer Lingus, ESB, etc? The recipients of those pensions have been clear that they have not had any rise in several years, and their pensions are also being threatened by the impact of PRSI changes now as well. I wonder where pensions such as those fit into the picture.

Turning to the taxation side, and Mr. Cullen outlined several aspects in this regard, it seems that what is being talked about is a proposal in respect of income tax for pensioners and younger people as well. I would like some clarification on this point and where it is felt that it would be appropriate to draw a line in this regard. In addition, to get this clear in my mind, I would also like some more detail regarding what was said about it being felt that the system, as it is working, has been yielding similar results as if there had been indexation, even though there has not been in recent years. Is my reading of this correct?