Mr. Ciarán Lawler:

As I outlined in the opening statement, we are moving towards an indexation policy. The Government is now considering the recommendations of the Commission on Pensions, which has endorsed a smoothed earnings approach to benchmarking and indexation of State pensions. That is where we are at the moment. We also have a commitment in the national roadmap for social inclusion to examine indexation policies and benchmarking for the wider family of social welfare payments, including working-age payments. That work has yet to be done. At the moment, the focus has been on State pensions.