Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

There is no logic in regard to this. It is what is written down, and that would be a moot assertion because one would not know when, how or who would declare it. In the section I have given the power to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to bring it into effect. The section explains that the CPI will be examined in the second year after the scheme comes into operation, and an increase shall be given within a year of that. The CPI is published on a monthly basis but it can take several months before the figures settle. There might be a spike or a diminution, and we need to have an average. I would anticipate pensions and reckonable amounts would typically be uprated together within, say, six months of the year end. I have given an assurance in the other House, and I give it readily here, that it is the firm intention that this will be done on an annual basis within, say, six months of the settled figures being produced by the CSO.