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

If the Deputy wants to keep the pension age at 66, he should realise it has to be paid for. That is the reality. Sometimes he is a bit detached from reality. With him, it is usually a case of spend, spend, spend on the grounds that somebody else can pay for it. That is how he operates. He got his answer at the weekend. People are not buying his view. The Government parties won over 500 seats and his political grouping won 13. That tells him all he needs to know.

These are very modest increases. There is an increase of 0.1%, which equates to about 90 cent per week on the average industrial wage. The value of the State pension is roughly €380,000 for the average person. That is what your pot is worth when you retire. The contribution is an extra 90 cent per week and it is reasonable. Now is the time to introduce it. These are very small, incremental increases. Now, when we have full employment, is the time to introduce them.

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