I would like the relevant Minister to come to the Chamber to provide a clear and comprehensive update on the implementation of the pension increase due to retired An Post workers and to explain the continued application of the 2% cap on the pension increase under the 2013 pension accord. Two core issues now require urgent attention. The first is the 7% increase owed to An Post pensioners, comprising 6% from 1 January 2025 and a further 1% from 1 June 2025. The second is the rationale for maintaining the restrictive 2% cap on the pension increase, a cap that is increasingly out of step with the realities faced by pensioners today.

Like so many older and retired people across the country, An Post pensioners are living longer, managing higher fuel costs and struggling with persistent increases in the cost of living. A 7% increase is not a luxury; it is a necessary adjustment that would make a genuine and immediate difference to the pensioners' daily lives. Despite being fully entitled to this increase, they still have no clarity on when it will be paid.

When An Post was established in 1984, pensioners were given a firm commitment that their pension entitlements would not be less favourable than those of civil servants. This was not a vague aspiration; it was a statutory guarantee under the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983. That promise must carry weight. It must be honoured in practice, not merely acknowledged in theory. An Post began the internal process to implement the increases in October 2025. Pensioners cannot understand why, months later, there is still no indication of when the increases will be applied or when arrears will be issued. They have waited long enough and deserve certainty.