Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

The 25% discount is a substantial benefit to some, but not all, annuitants. Any who have significant arrears must clear them before they can benefit from this scheme, a major flaw. This legislation will not facilitate many of the people who are in financial difficulties and have significant arrears.

Many who owe substantial arrears to the Department also owe substantial amounts of money to banks. They probably have very poor credit ratings and may not be able to get loans from any financial institutions. In these circumstances, there should be a mechanism whereby, over a limited period of time of perhaps three or four years, they can pay 25% each year from their single farm payments. Such a provision need not be open-ended but it would be a sensible and reasonable approach to try to facilitate these people in clearing the decks and getting them off our books.

See this speech in context