Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

One cannot spend money and not have the wherewithal to do so. As a general principle, I would like to be able to deploy more resources to improve public services. I agree with the Deputy. I have had a number of meetings with the representatives of public sector pensioners and I am conscious, as I said to the Deputy during the debate on the FEMPI 2015 legislation, that, unlike pay restoration for those who have 30 or 40 years of work ahead of them, it is different if one is facing, if one likes, a more limited time horizon because one is elderly. I wish to ensure pension restoration will happen as quickly as economic circumstances allow. We will give back €1,680 to each pensioner under the proposals we enacted last year. Could we go further and move quicker? We will see what economic progress will allow us to do in the coming months. If we can sustain economic progress, this will be a priority for me personally.

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