I move:

"That Seanad Éireann hereby approves of the amendment of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pensions Scheme made under Section 6A of the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act, 1938, by:—

1 the insertion of ‘, other than a pension which is so payable to a widow,' after ‘Scheme' in clause 5 (6);

2 the deletion of clause 5 (12); and

3 the insertion of the following new subsection in clause 11:—

‘(3) No payment shall be made by virtue of any amendment of this Scheme made between 1st April, 1972, and 31st July, 1972, with effect from a date earlier than 1st April, 1972.'"

The purpose of the motion is to amend the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pension Scheme so as:

(a) to allow the payments to widows while they are members of the Oireachtas of any widows' pensions to which they are entitled as a result of their husbands membership of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Members) Pension Scheme

(b) to allow widows who, as a result of their membership of the scheme have an entitlement to pension, to be paid those pensions in addition to any widows' pension to which they are entitled as a result of their husband's membership of the scheme.

Any pensions which are payable as a result of these amendments will be paid with effect from a date not earlier than 1st April, 1972.

I do not think there is any objection to these amendments; they will be welcomed on this side of the House. Does the date 1st April, 1972, mean they can be paid retrospectively?

No. They will be paid from 1st April, 1972.

That is in retrospect.

With effect from a date not earlier than 1st April, 1972; I am sorry, they can be paid retrospectively.

There will be very few people affected by this scheme, perhaps just one or two. I certainly welcome it; it is only just.

Paragraph (b) refers to the allowance irrespective of other pensions to which a widow is entitled, is this correct?

That is correct. There are two people affected; one in the Seanad and one in the Dáil.