§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the cost in 1991–92 of raising the single pension by £5 a week and the married pension by £8 a week above current levels on the same basis as the answer given to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East, 30 April,Official Report, column 162.
§ Mr. HanleyThe additional cost of increasing the basic retirement pension in this way in Northern Ireland would be around £53 million, assuming a corresponding increase in income-related benefits. A reliable estimate is not available of the net cost with no such corresponding increase.