I welcome the announcement this morning from the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection on the changes to the so-called 2012 pension anomaly. I particularly welcome the home-caring credit for up to 20 years. It is an acknowledgement for the many carers out there providing excellent care for loved ones and family members, saving the State millions of euro each year. I also welcome that the Minister stated no pensioner will see any decrease in his or her pension payments with the new change.

There is one serious concern. The Minister is talking about these changes coming in on 30 March with no payments being paid out until the first quarter of 2019. There is no mention whatsoever of the six years from 2012 until 2018, in which more than 40,000 pensioners received a reduced payment. This change is an acknowledgement that those pensioners have had wrong done to them by the Government and the Taoiseach's former colleagues in government in the Labour Party.

Will the Government make a commitment that the 42,000 pensioners who have been wronged will see back-payments to 2012? Will the Minister outline clearly the plans that are in place to ensure they will not see any loss of their pensions and that money will be paid back?

I call Deputy Tony McLoughlin on the same matter.

I support Deputy Brady's comments. We all know that one of the most important things to a pensioner is his or her State pension. On that basis, I ask the Minister to outline her plans to ensure that those affected by the 2012 pension changes will see their cases addressed in 2019.

I thank Deputy Brady for welcoming the changes announced this morning. What was announced this morning is a reform and new legislation. As Deputy Brady is aware, no new legislation can be applied retrospectively. For the record of the House, the reforms we announced today mean that the length of one's working life will no longer be the key factor in determining one's pension payments. One's total contributions, regardless of the number of years worked, is what will be key. The reforms provide for the addition of a credit for home caring. Whether the credit is for caring for one's children or an elderly relative or whatever else, it will be determined once the assessment has taken place. Given that this is new legislation, the start date for the payments will be the same as that for all the other payments that will be increased on the day the budget changes come into play in the week beginning 26 March. No back-payment is being paid. The legislation that was introduced in 2012 will still be the current legislation until I introduce new legislation. According to that legislation, payments to be made will start accruing from 26 March to 30 March 2018, with payments being made in the first quarter of 2019. It is not the case that legislation can be retrospective-----

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