Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There are two elements to this pension. In the first instance, people must prove that the partnership existed and then people must qualify under social insurance contributions. The section that determines whether a partnership existed did not communicate properly with the social insurance end. When the partnership was found to exist and the application was approved in respect of this, it was presumed to be approved for a pension. It was a genuine mistake and I regret that it happened. It happened in respect of 87 people, not hundreds, but it is a serious issue for those 87 people.

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