Mr. Ciar?n Lawler:

The Deputy will be aware that benchmarking and indexation of social welfare payments have been looked at on numerous occasions over many decades, going back to the Commission on Social Welfare in 1986. The social welfare benchmarking indexation group in 2001 recommended some indexing or benchmarking of rates, whether benchmarked to earnings, indexed to inflation or whatever else. The focus in recent years has been very much on State pensions and their benchmarking and indexation. The Government decided last September, in response to the Commission on Pensions, that a smoothed earnings approach set at a benchmark of 34% of regular earnings would be introduced as an annual input to the budgetary process every year. That is beginning this year. That is my response in respect of pensions.

We also have a commitment to consider working-age payments generally. Work has begun on that in the Department. Working-age payments are far more complex, given the range of rates of payments and the different contingencies involved. As I said, the Department is looking at that this year, and the minimum essential standard of living will be looked at as part of that work.