Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take the Deputy's point and understand the arguments he is making. I have a degree of sympathy for them. The difficulty with any programme the Government brings in is that, if it is made retrospective, the cost of doing implementing it can make it prohibitive, and decisions made in 1994 and 1983 were not to make them retrospective, precisely for that reason.

The cost would have been so high that it would not be possible to do it at all. Unfortunately, it is a public policy dilemma we face constantly, that one can change something for the better going forward but to apply new rules retrospectively can be prohibitive in terms of cost.

It is not something I am ruling out. I am merely pointing out the cost of it and the kind of alternative choices that would have to be made if it was done.

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