Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

Is it true that all old age pensioners will be issued with swipe cards by the end of this year instead of the normal pension books? If so, how will it affect people in areas that do not have automated post offices, which is virtually the whole of rural Ireland? I see from the Finance Bill that funding for house alarms, which used to come from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, has vanished. Will these two issues be dealt with in the Social Welfare Bill?

See this speech in context