I refer to the opinion piece by Roger Davies-Barrett entitled ‘Pensions scandal’ (April 14). While we take note of his views, allow me to clarify that the €200 mentioned in his contribution is not a tax allowance but an amount waived off from the abatement of the social security pension.

So in cases like his it is a direct increase in his social security pension. The pension revisions related to this measure will soon be completed.

They have not yet been finalised not because government is ‘broke’ or because it wants to ‘hurt’ service pensioners as Davies-Barrett put it, but because the Department of Social Security this year is dealing with an unprecedented number of social measures announced in Budget 2016 – a far cry from a government that wants to hurt pensioners. It is pertinent to point out that one of these measures is that the €200 annual additional waiving-off from the mentioned abatement has now been guaranteed for future years as well.