Alan Kelly (Labour)

There are many anomalies. The key question is whether they will all be dealt with.

We need to know the timeline for the Bill. On the representations made to the Department of Finance, while I accept the bone fides that it was done through Department of Finance officials rather than through the Minister, we need to know how long the Department of Finance had for drafting this and at what stage it decided to include it in the miscellaneous provisions part of the Bill. We need to know that for a number of reasons.

I presume the Department of Finance has had a number of other representations on pension entitlements at the same time. We should ask anybody who has made representations to the Department of Finance for pension entitlements in the past six months or year to draw them to our attention. Those of us in the House, especially on this side, might take them on board. I suggest those people contact us and bring any such representations they may have made to the Department of Finance to our attention so that we can say to the Department that there is one law for the former Minister and another for a person who is not in receipt of his or her pension entitlement because of a similar anomaly. In this scenario the Government will not give a person his or her entitlement but will fast-forward the entitlement one of its own.