Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The base rate.

The option to defer will only apply to people turning 66 from January so the earliest anybody can qualify for the 67-years-old payment will be from January 2025 onwards. It means all of these rates will change again as part of next year's budget, and hopefully we will be giving more increases then.

I thought it was important that we would give that clarity to people who are considering deferring so they know what they will get. If people are going to work for another year, they want to know what they are going to get and what extra will be in it for them. We are doing this here to give them more flexibility and choice, and it will be up to the individuals themselves to decide what best suits their own circumstances. I know we have all met people in our own constituency offices who are short maybe two or three years, and they would dearly love that option to work on. If they are fit, and fit to work, they want to work on to get the full pension whenever they retire.

There is now the option that if one wants to work for an extra year and enhance one's pension, we will give them that choice. They will get a bigger pension if they want to work on and increase their contributions.