Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

People who left the country to go to work in another country can avail of the credits. If there is a reciprocal arrangement between the country the person went to work in and Ireland, he or she can arrange for his or her credits to be included on his or her record. The gaps can only be filled in this system by caring credits. People who went to work, say, in London will not be able to come home and say they were missing. They have to how who they were caring for and the period of time they were caring. They can give us that information on a bona fides basis. There are some people who will not be able to prove that in 1974 they were doing something but we will accept their bona fides. As with everything, there is an appeals process. If a person does not feel we have been satisfied about the gaps in their records, they can sit down with us. I hope that during the review process over the next couple of months and through the interactive website we have established, mywelfare.ie, they will be able to provide us with all of the information and we will go and check it out. If there are any anomalies, we will talk to people. The ultimate aim of the Parliament was to recognise there were people who were getting less of a pension than they should have as a result of the rate changes made in 2012. We want to rectify it from 30 March next year which is what we will do.

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