Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Calleary. There are not going to be any easy decisions here. Some people want to cherry-pick the nice things and not deal with some of the other issues. I see this as an all-of-government approach. We have to bring it to Cabinet. I read the pensions commission report in its entirety. It is a comprehensive document that outlines the pros and cons and then comes forward with its recommendations. One thing I do know is that we must do something about it.

As we stand here at the minute, four and a half people who are working contribute to one pensioner. By 2050, there will only be just over two people working for every pensioner. We must, therefore, do something about this. It will be looked at in its totality. My officials are working on it at the minute and it is my intention to bring this forward through the Cabinet committee process. I am sure it will get much discussion. We will try to do everything we can to make sure we do it in the best interests of everybody. There are no easy decisions.

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