Mr. Tim Duggan:

The Chair can remind me about that if I forget. The age of 70 is essentially a balance that was recommended by the Pensions Commission as part of its recommendations. It also aligns with what the public service itself is doing, whereby, under law, a person can now work up to the age of 70 in the public service. It is aligning with all of those other things going on. The secondary benefits in social welfare are universally available from 70 on, so 70 is an age that is aligning. It is the age now, and there is nothing to prevent it from being reviewed or increased by a future Government or the Legislature if they choose to do that. However, the Pensions Commission recommended 70 and the Government felt that was a good balance. It aligns with the universal payments being available from 70 and with the public service allowing working to the age of 70, so it all aligns.

I take the point about people not being fully aware of the carer’s support grant and the fact it is not means-assessed. I will take that back to the Department. We plan to have many communication campaigns and I will ensure that that is fed into the consideration of the next series of campaigns around this. I have to say that communication campaigns are notoriously difficult and even though we pump an incredible amount of money, effort, imagination and creativity into material to try to grab people's attention, it is amazing how it sometimes just does not work. We are always trying to ensure that people are aware of their entitlements.