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

I have never heard of pensioners being called "grey panthers" before so that is a new one on me. What I want to put on record is that both the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael manifestoes before the last general election committed to increasing the State pension by €5 each year for the lifetime of the next Government. It made it into the programme for Government and we have done that. With respect, I would love to see the Deputy's manifesto where he made the promise, given his sudden newfound interest in looking after pensioners.

The issue of those under 26 comes up at every single budget forum and it is under consideration every single time we sit down to our negotiations, so that is the best I can tell the Deputy at the moment.

A number of us have an input into how we are going to address any carbon tax gains to make sure the people who are most vulnerable and will be most hit will be able to absorb this and make sure they can be eased into new practices, as opposed to being hit with financial implications that will hurt them in their pockets. We are going to do our level best. My mindset is that the people I look after have single incomes and are some of the most vulnerable from a fuel poverty perspective. I will make sure I look after them.

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