John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. As she said, it is a long time ago and much water has gone under the bridge. When we discussed the matter this time last year we were hopeful that by the end of the year people might have received payments but now it is to be in the first quarter of next year. I have some concerns that the letters are only going out. The Minister said that 11,000 letters had been issued to date. I am concerned that the Minister said the Department will do all the work. It will still be up to the individuals to be satisfied that the intended changes have actually been made and applied to them correctly. If they want to appeal the decision it would be some time down the road before those people might see their payments.

There were two real anomalies arising from the changes that occurred in 2012 that need to be addressed. Perhaps the Minister could comment on them. One relates to the period of time that some people were out of work due to caring and the averaging of contributions by moving to a total contributory system. The second issue has not been mentioned and it relates to the total number of contributions required to be eligible for consideration in the first instance. Prior to 2012, it was 260 contributions but in the change in 2012 it went to 520 contributions. Does the Minister's proposal recognise those people who had 260 contributions?

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