John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A question crossed my mind concerning correspondence we received today, particularly as we are discussing Vote 12 on superannuation and retired allowances. If the Minister of State does not have the answer, then he can put it in writing and send it to the committee. A review on higher remuneration in the public sector was established in 1969, which is 53 years ago and various recommendations were made. The most recent report relating to salaries across all grades in the Civil Service and public sector is review body report No. 42, which is dated 14 September 2007, and it affected people involved in the area of health many of whom are now retired. The Government accepted the recommendation of the review body, without exception, and issued formal sanction to pay all the awards over three phases yet these people still have not been paid. Today, we are giving the Minister of State extra money for retired allowances and so on. Many of the people referred to in report No. 42 are retired. A review was set up, the review body made recommendations in 2007, the Government accepted the recommendations of the review body, without exception, and the Government issued a formal sanction to pay all of the awards so why have the awards not been paid? I have asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the same question and now that the Minister of State has made his comments on retired people, their allowances and so on, I will ask him the same question. Is not paying the awards a gross injustice inflicted upon these retired people given the report and Government sanction?