Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This morning, Age Action and a number of other organisations held a press conference to highlight the plight of the 40,000 people, mainly women, who are being denied full pension rights as a result of the 2012 changes, and the groups in question will protest outside the Dáil tomorrow. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Doherty, gave commitments to address this issue as a matter of urgency.

Six months have elapsed since that commitment was given. I understand that proposals are being brought to Cabinet. I ask the Minister to outline precisely what is being proposed and the timescale involved. Can the Minister give an assurance that we are not talking about a post-2020 move to a total contribution system? Can she assure us that measures will be introduced in the coming months to address the urgent issues that are at stake today?

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