Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The way we are going, the female side of the partnership is living longer; therefore, women will last longer than their male counterparts. The bad news for males in the House is that it will continue this way, according to all projections.

The bottom line is that I do not deny it is an issue which can be very difficult to deal with. I am not dismissive but the Government has tried to lift all boats dramatically. Considering the comparable figures of maintaining the rate and what has happened across all pension payments, the increases have been way ahead of what would have been needed in the living alone allowance. That was the right way to proceed rather than concentrating on one cohort in the spectrum.

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