Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----the benchmark the Deputy mentioned. Three things must be said about it. First, it will take time to achieve it. Second, we will have a flexible pension age, meaning that if people retire later - for example at 67, 68, 69 or 70 - they can have a higher pension. That also needs to be taken into account. Third, when we calculate benchmarking of State pensions, it would be wrong to say that things like the living alone payment, the household benefits package, free travel or the fuel allowance count for nothing.

When some people calculate the benchmark, they say those things count for nothing but they do not count for nothing. They should be included in the calculation.

See this speech in context