The Minister said that this meant that all pensions below €628 per month would see a rise in keeping with inflation with Vieira da Silva stating that in accordance with 2015 figures that this would see rises to “around two million pensions” in the general pension scheme.


The government had also decided to raise the reference value in effect for CIS and RSI whilst in the case of households in receipt of family allowance, they would be getting a 3.5% rise in the first scale, 2.5% in the second and 2% in the third" with a 10% rise in the calculation applied to such benefits going to single parent families.


Vieira da Silva said that the overall costs of this return of inflation linked rises to the different social security payments amounted to €173 million over the course of 2016 with pensions accounting for some €80 million in this rise.


The minister concluded by pointing out that these had been purpose approved to come into effect at the beginning of 2016 and hence not dependent on awaiting the approval of the state budget for next year even while “the legislative process requires completion so that they do take effect" whilst expressing confidence that the government “does not foresee any need to make these payments retroactively in the future.”