Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I heard every word of it and she spoke the truth. She expressed the kind of frustration that is felt on all sides of the House in terms of dealing with this issue. I understand that she cannot vote with the Opposition.

I wish to refer to tax individualisation. When the Government introduced the home carer's tax credit as a compensation for the spouse who stayed at home, I understood it was done on the basis that we would have an annual increase in the home carer's tax credit which has not been increased in five years. The relative position of mothers at home has deteriorated during that period despite all of the hypocrisy I heard at the time suggesting that their situation would be reflected by the home carer's tax credit. Tax individualisation was introduced five years ago. There has not been an increase in the credit in that time and the relative position of the one-income family, where the choice is made by one of the parents to stay at home to rear the family, has worsened.

If we are serious about recognising the contribution of a man or woman to stay at home to mind his or her children on a full-time basis, why in the name of God can we not introduce some recognition of this in our social welfare code? I am not suggesting for a moment that parents at home would receive a pension without paying into it. However, a spouse who remains at home for four or five years looking after her or his children full-time should be entitled to a contributory old age pension. It is a disgrace that my wife, when she reaches the age of 66, will be regarded as a dependent adult and not a person in her own right who has worked at home and contributed hugely to Irish society and the economy. If we talk about recognition, let us have recognition for everyone in our society, not just for those who choose, for whatever reason, to go into the workplace. We must reflect that work at home counts as much as work outside the home.