The review referred to by the Deputy is now nearing completion.
As I have previously stated on many occasions, this is a general review of the qualifying conditions for the old age contributory and retirement pensions which is in line with this Government's commitment to address the issue of people who fail marginally to qualify for an old age contributory pension. The review is, therefore, paying particular attention to the operation of the yearly average qualifying condition.
Clearly, any changes to the fundamental basis of a scheme involve a cost factor and, as with all improvements to social welfare schemes, these will have to be considered in a budgetary context.