Ms Orla O'Connor:

The Deputy is perfectly correct. Our analysis of gender-proofing in the past has considered the Northern Ireland experience and what happens in Scotland, which is quite similar. It is important for each Department that before the budget is put in place, an assessment on the impact on women would take place. We are particularly arguing for it in this budget because think tanks have done an analysis of the budget before last, illustrating the disproportionate impact on women and especially groups of women such as lone parents. That creates a stronger rationale for our argument. A strong working group was established on equality proofing and it examined the Northern Ireland experience. Unfortunately, although the Equality Authority drove it at the time, it did not go anywhere.

The Deputy mentioned home help hours. To follow up on Ms O'Brien's comments, the hours problem is not just about people entering into employment but rather those who are in work but find themselves in the position we outlined. It is important to also consider the role of the family income supplement, which should help those on low pay. There is a stipulation of working at least 19 hours with that, so there is another significant disincentive. It is not a reflection of part-time and flexible work. I do not know if the Deputy has seen the research recently published by Mandate, which considered the "precarious" work force. It indicated how some people have contracts for nine hours per week, so the family income supplement would not play a role in that. There is a problem on both ends to be dealt with. The hours issue is not new and was always a concern for women working part time. It was not taken seriously in the Department, although there is more of a rationale for taking it seriously now because it will affect many more people. We are in a different era where atypical work is now the norm.

The Deputy also raised the pensions issue. The National Women's Council of Ireland has been arguing for this and we did a detailed piece of research that considered international evidence around a woman-friendly model of pensions. We have included this in pre-budget submissions for the past few years the idea of working towards a universal pension not based on contributions, as we get into the problem of women taking time out and the difficulty in building contributions. Moves in the last budget have made it even more difficult to build contributions and we do not have a system that recognises lengthy periods of care. It is an issue particularly for women coming to pension age. There is a homemaker credit but it will not take shape for approximately ten or 15 years. That leaves a major cohort of women who are struggling, having taken the time out to care but who are ineligible for pensions.

The simplest way to cover all these issues is a universal pension system and we have a detailed policy which we are happy to share with the Deputy.