John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With regard to amendment No. 21, under the current conditions of the homemaker's scheme, any years that a person spent as a homemaker since 6 April 1994 are ignored or disregarded when calculating the yearly average contributions for a contributory State pension. Deputy Smith's amendment proposes to have an open-ended provision of up to a maximum of 20 years disregarded instead of the current provision which only allows for the years 1994 to date to be disregarded. The amendment therefore could impose a charge on the Exchequer and must be ruled out of order, in accordance with Standing Order 179(3).