Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

On the question of where the additional money can be obtained, I accept that additional money is needed, but I will tell the Minister where it can be found. The employers' PRSI contribution in this country is so far below the norm elsewhere in Europe that it is shocking. In fact, the big gap in tax revenue by comparison with most of our European counterparts is precisely the shortfall in employers' PRSI contributions. It is precisely the source from which one would want revenue to pay for pensions and to end what the Minister has accepted is completely unacceptable discrimination, mostly against female pensioners. The position on the commitment made by the former Minister for Social Protection and now Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who he said he understood the issues involved, promised that we would move towards lifetime contributions and said that he would deal with the inequities resulting from the averaging system and that there would be a report within six months, is slightly alarming. Now we hear that there is no report, that something will happen and that there will be a public consultation process but that the Government does not really have the money. That is really not good enough.

See this speech in context