Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being slightly late. I have come directly from a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to the House.

I raise this Commencement matter because there is an inequity in the system. Pay restoration is a fundamental principle across society, whether in the private or public sector. Many members of the public took a hit from 2008 or 2009 until 2014 or 2015 and their pay is now gradually being restored. There have been numerous examples of pay restoration, in particular across the public sector. It is likely that full pay restoration will be achieved in the next budget or the one thereafter.

However, in budget 2012 the pension guidelines, entitlements, structures and so on were changed for a group of pensioners who, prior to 2012, had a legitimate expectation to a specific level of pension entitlement when they retired. Under the new guidelines, many of those born in 1948 lost benefits to which they would have been entitled had they been born a couple of years later. A specific number of people have been affected by the changes.

The entire cost of reverting to the pre-budget 2012 guidelines would be approximately €270 million. An inequity has been created by the changes. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, should consider reverting to the pre-budget 2012 guidelines. Doing so would not open a floodgate but, rather, help a specific number of people at a cost of €270 million. I do not ask for the entitlements to be backdated but, rather, that the former level of benefit now be restored. If that cannot be done immediately, I ask that a timeline for such be put in place.

The Department is fully aware of the circumstances of the issue because a constituent of mine has gone to the trouble of researching the matter, putting the figures together and making a case to the Department. Parliamentary questions on the matter have been tabled by Deputies. The case put forward by my constituent is fair and well articulated. This is a question of equity and fairness. I sincerely hope the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, will right the wrong done to these people, who have paid their taxes, served their country well and done their duty, or at least give a timeframe for that to be done.