Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support amendment No. 4 in the name of my colleague, Deputy O'Dea. It is an issue I have raised constantly in the Dáil and Cork County Council, of which I was a member when the change was made in 2012. It was a very harsh cut which was slipped in under the radar. It appeared that it only impacted on a small number of people initially, but as people reached pension age more and more were hit by the change. As we know, many lost out by up to €30 a week.

It is cutting people who stepped outside the PRSI net when they were perhaps doing caring or family homemaker roles. The cut was as much as €30 per week. It is not just this week but every week for the rest of their lives. This needs to be addressed.

The fact that this is discriminatory by age has been mentioned and I should reinforce it. People with the very same record of contributions have different pensions just because one person reached pension age after 2012. That discrimination by age is not right and it should be dealt with. I have raised the matter before with a previous Minister responsible for social welfare, the now Taoiseach, who said at the time that there would be winners and losers. We know that right now everybody is a loser and the matter must be dealt with. We understand a report has been commissioned and it is due before Cabinet soon enough. There is no reason to hold back and once the information is available, it should be let out in order that we can get working on the solution. There is no need to allow this to continue any longer if there is a way of dealing with the problem. I encourage the Government and all Deputies to support the amendment to make this information available. We know there is something wrong and there is no reason to hold back. We should get on and deal with solutions.

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