Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has addressed my question. The key point is that society is moving forward and trying to address inequalities from the past. This matter is one of those inequalities. We should take the earliest opportunity to address it; it should not be just a matter of whether we can afford it. Equality in our society comes at a cost. In this case, it is a substantial cost but we must find a way of coming around this. The SIPTU campaign suggested a 1964 cut-off date rather than going back to 1953. There would not be much of a difference in the costs for these two dates. This matter must be kept under review.

See this speech in context