John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Curran's point. It is a critical one and we will come back to that in other discussions and debates in the near future. I want a categorical assurance, as do many of the 79,000 people who are entitled to see their money restored to the rate it should be, that those backdated payments will be made in the first quarter of next year. Can the Minister give a categorical assurance to the people who are entitled to increases that they will get that money backdated in the first quarter of 2019?

My second point is where the criticism comes in, which is no surprise.

While there is retrospection up to 2018, many people have been impacted from 2012 up to now and the retrospection should go all the way back. I am critical of the fact that this is not the case as are organisations such as Age Action and the people who have been impacted since 2012. That is where the criticism is. This is a welcome first step but that is all it is. We need now to have it paid retrospectively to 2012.

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