Ms Clare Duffy:

I acknowledge the Deputy’s comments about the social contract. It is important in recognising the poverty that older people experience. We see that all the time. On carers and the social contract, this is about how we recognise, value and support carers. The Commission on Pensions’s terms of reference only asked it to speak about one aspect that social contract, which is a carer's eventual entitlement to a pension. The commission makes three recommendations for carers. In the second recommendation, it makes it clear that Exchequer paid-for contributions the State will make on behalf of long-term carers are for pensions purposes only. They will not give the a carer an entitlement to any other benefit scheme within social welfare. That is a very important point and I will leave it at that. Deputy Collins is right that the broader social contract is about more than just pensions, yet the Commission on Pensions makes it clear that its recommendation is only for the pension, which cuts carers off from other important schemes.