Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)

I appreciate the Minister of State’s engagement on this matter and, indeed, the many valid points he made. We are very much on the same page on this. It must be recognised that an anomaly exists. In that context, I refer to the unfairness of the situation whereby a person who is still working and paying PRSI cannot access illness benefit. I commend the Minister of State on the work he said he did in this area previously in terms of the half-rate carer's payment. I do not see why that logic could not be applied to this in the event that we cannot get the full payment. There are so many options that could be looked at to level this up. In the context of the widow's pension, a sliding scale, based on the number of PRSI contributions that the deceased spouse has paid, is used. It is not a fixed rate. I am concerned about the unfairness of it all. I appreciate the Minister of State’s reply.