Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept that is the practice but I do not accept the validity of the practice and I believe it needs to be changed. This section of the Act is repugnant to the Constitution. Why are all awards made by the courts not challenged by whoever happens to be the payer of the pensions to the individuals concerned at a later stage? It is totally wrong that this would continue. It has caused severe hardship to an awful lot of people. The Department is effectively stating again and again that these people should not really have had an award in the first place and that it has the right to second-guess the courts and decide of its own accord that it will take back the equivalent value through a reduced pension in the future. I urge the Minister to undertake an urgent reappraisal with a view to changing this practice. It is wrong, unfair and archaic.

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