I want to read a quote to the Taoiseach:

Under our proposals, people aged 65 will receive a State pension...which will be paid at the same rate as the State pension of €248 per week. This payment will not be means tested but entitlement will be based on an individual's employment record. In contrast Fine Gael will only pay those who are 65 a payment of €203 per week, which will result in an annual loss of €2,340 for this age group.

Those words should sound very familiar to the Taoiseach because they are, as he knows, an official Fianna Fáil statement made by Deputy Willie O'Dea, when he was the party's spokesperson on social protection, three days before last year's general election. The Taoiseach knew at that time the strength of public feeling as regards the right to a State pension for workers when they reach the age of 65 but he seems to have forgotten that in the meantime, because his Government's announcement on the State pension on Monday was exactly what Fine Gael proposed in the course of that election 12 months ago.

Only enormous public pressure has stopped the Government from raising the pension age to 67 for now, and it is not restoring the State pension (transition) payments, as it promised. The Government will continue to pay 65-year-olds what is, in effect, a jobseeker’s payment of only €203 per week, which is a loss of €45 a week, a loss, as the Taoiseach knows, of more than €2,000 a year when compared with the State pension. This cohort of workers also stands to lose out on a range of secondary benefits, including fuel allowance, as the Taoiseach well knows.

In summary, the Taoiseach has adopted the Fine Gael policy, hook, line and sinker and this is a real blow for 65-year-olds, who will rely on a decent pension to get by. The lack of fairness, the lack of respect, is absolutely breath-taking, particularly in these times when people are under such enormous pressure.

The Taoiseach should know that, by the age of 65, workers will have worked hard, paid their way, paid their bills, provided for their families and paid their taxes to this State. Many of those who now look for their pension entitlement at the age of 65 may have begun their working lives at the age of 14 or 15. They have more than paid their way. Many more have spent their working lives on their feet in very physical jobs in factories, on building sites and in retail. By the time they reach the age of 65, they are entitled to this because they have earned the respect and entitlement of their pension, should they wish to retire.

The Taoiseach's failure in this now means that many 65-year-olds who may wish to retire will have to continue working. Many will head back to their places of work, even in these very difficult and treacherous times. I recognise there are those who would wish to work beyond the age of 65 and, of course, that right must be upheld, but it is wrong that, at the age of 65, those who wish to retire are forced out the door to work because they cannot afford to retire, because the State and the Government do not respect their working lives.

This is actually very straightforward. The Taoiseach is either for the right to a State pension at the age of 65 or he is not. Will he confirm that, under his plan, 65-year-olds will be out of pocket by €45 per week? How on earth does he stand over this, particularly given his election commitments?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is quite extraordinary the two-dimensional thinking and approach from Deputy McDonald and the Sinn Féin Party more generally.

They say one thing in this House and do the exact opposite in Northern Ireland on the Executive, for example. The Deputy calls for a pension age of 65 years here, yet in Northern Ireland last October the exact opposite happened after Sinn Féin voted for the pension age to be increased from 65 to 66 years. Everything the Deputy has thrown at me can be thrown at her with respect to what her party supported in Northern Ireland.

Deputy McDonald says the rate is too low when a 65-year-old on €203 in the Republic is still receiving a higher payment than every single pensioner in Northern Ireland regardless of age. Where is the fairness or respect for people there? I have noted in the last week alone, between Sinn Féin's proposals on fuel allowance and the pension, that it has essentially looked for about €4.5 billion in spending in only seven days, and that is only from one Department. We can discuss on another day how the Deputy or her party believes all that can be sorted.

In the context of the election and subsequently, we did not win a majority but we did decide to go into government and form a coalition with the Green Party and the Fine Gael Party. Pension issues formed part of those negotiations. The programme for Government was very clear that those aged 65 years who are required or choose to retire early can receive an early retirement allowance or pension at the same rate as jobseeker's benefit without a requirement to sign on, partake in activation measures or be available for and genuinely seeking work. We introduced that new payment and we have fulfilled the programme for Government commitment on that to bridge the gap for people who were required to retire at 65 but do not qualify for the State pension until aged 66.

The increase in the pension age to 67 years, which was proposed prior to the general election and which we opposed, did not go ahead in January. The pension age was kept at 66 years. That was an outcome of the negotiations between the three parties in the formulation of the programme for Government. The decision not to allow the pension age to go to 67 years will cost €453 million.

Obviously, there is a wider issue around pension sustainability into the future. The Department of Social Protection will spend about €25 billion this year. Over 40% of that, about €9 billion, will be spend on pension payments alone. The Pensions Commission has been established to examine a range of issues and Deputy McDonald's party can make a submission to it. The commission is examining mandatory retirement ages in employment contracts where that age is below the State pension age. It is due to report back to Government later this year. It is important to be honest with people that the sustainability of pensions over the coming decades will be challenging for the State. That is why the Pensions Commission represents a very good context to try to outline how the State will meet its obligations and organise society into the future as we live longer and our demographics change significantly.

To make another key point, the State pension age has never been at 65 years. There was previously a transition pension which was abolished by the then Minister, Joan Burton, in 2014. The State pension age is 66 years. That has been the case since 1977.

Let me say very directly to the Taoiseach that he is in no position to make arguments to working people about the sustainability of very modest pension payments for them when, at the same time, the gold-plated pensions that the Taoiseach and his predecessors enjoy are not to be touched. There is a central hypocrisy in his approach - big pensions for the big boys and crumbs for working people. It is a mark of decency in any affluent society - in any civilised society actually - that working people have the right to retire with their pension at the age of 65 years. These are people who have worked long and hard in manual labour, retail and as carers. I could go on and on. Yet, rather than addressing that issue and leading from the front as Dublin and the sovereign Government here ought to, the Taoiseach dodges and prevaricates.

The Deputy's time is up.

I ask him again to confirm that the Government's proposal will see pensioners left out of pocket by €45 a week and more than €2,000 a year? I want him to justify that for those working people.

I am disappointed that the Deputy's party saw fit to raise the age to 66 years in Northern Ireland and voted for it. The Deputy did not even respond to that point. That is what Sinn Féin did. It is just hypocrisy and double standards. Historically, Fianna Fáil was responsible for significant increases in the State pension down through the decades, particularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s when very substantial increases happened. Successive Governments have done that, with the result that the Republic has strong State pensions in comparison with other jurisdictions. We need to improve if we can but we must have sustainability underpinning that as well. That is why the Pensions Commission has been established. As I said, the State pension age has been at 66 years since 1977. That is the reality. We need to change a broad range of areas around pensions and the Pensions Commission will bring forward a range of recommendations to respond to people's needs in this area.