Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 5, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:

"1.—The Minister shall within 6 months from after the passing of this Act prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the social insurance treatment of self-employed people in receipt of the carer's allowance who are looking after ill spouses.".

I am pleased the two amendments are being taken together. It saves me having to repeat myself, which I do not want to do.

The Minister gave an illuminating reply to this on Committee Stage. I was using an example I know of, which related to Kerry. I will use one relating to Waterford in a few minutes to illustrate how important is the credit system. In the Kerry case the wife of a self-employed man had motor neurone disease. As with many couples, the man stopped working and looked after his wife. He was not self-employed on a large scale, but it kept the couple ticking over. He got the carer's allowance and was very happy about that. He was concerned that having dropped his self-employment he was no longer able to accumulate credits and there would be a big gap in his contribution record. I was seeking a carer's credit from the Minister for the man who is carrying out this work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to obviate all those issues, as outlined by Deputies Stanton and Crowe in the House this morning. The Minister told me the payment of €253 per annum was similar to the child care supplement, another issue that he was dealing with, and that this could be paid. I believe that is what the Minister said and I hope I am not misinterpreting him.

Like all Deputies and spokesmen, my colleagues bring other cases to the Minister. Obviously the job of spokespersons in Opposition is to deal with their particular areas. I have another case for the Minister to review for which I want a reply. If he does not have an answer I would like if he could get one, as this is important for the person involved. A young accountant in her early 30s at the top of her profession is self-employed. The Minister will know more about this than I do, since he is an accountant by profession. He will appreciate that someone in her early 30s is hoping to get to the top of the tree, and accountants progress. Unfortunately, she was struck down with illness. She was paying her S1s, but now, very regrettably, she will not be able to return to that profession again. However, she wants to make a social welfare contribution. As an accountant she naturally recognises, as does her family, the importance of contributions.

I am a typical Paddy as well. I might have worked for years without making contributions. Nothing would worry me until the day of the storm, when I was looking for the scolb. One has to be prepared for the storm. The storm in this case is when a person gets old and the pension evaluation day arrives. The Department looks at the record and sees so many S1 and normal contributions were made over 40 years and because of the gaps the person gets a pension that is worth peanuts. This lady wants to be able to pay her €253 a year to continue her contribution record. Unfortunately she will not be able to revert to the level of work she wanted, and for which she took articles in accountancy and qualified. I want to ensure she can make her contribution of €253 per annum through the voluntary contributions system so when the day of reckoning comes, she will at least have a pension. As an accountant, the Minister knows the amount is minuscule. Like many of us who went into politics, the Minister might be considerably better off if he had continued as an accountant. I say this as someone from a legal background who would probably be considerably better off had he continued in his former occupation. However, a politician's calling relates to the public work he or she does, which is not often given much credit.

I was fairly pleased by the Minister's answer to the question asked about carers. Deputy Moynihan-Cronin brought that case to my attention. People are unaware of the many situations in which they can make voluntary contributions. We, and the Department in particular, have failed in not ensuring that this information is made available. As ever, the Minister's officials appear to be working hard to deal with the anomalies raised by us. I apologise for landing this anomaly on them but I only became aware of it this morning.

I hope this woman's case is covered by the guide to social welfare services. This guide drives me mad and politicians hate searching for information on page 46, but all the information one needs is contained within it. I presume Department officials are good at finding information and know on which page and in which paragraph the information is contained. I hope this guide facilitates this young woman because if it does not, we should amend the regulations.

One would not find ten people in the country facing the same situation as this young woman and I hope nobody other than her finds themselves in this situation. However, two cases in Waterford and Kerry were brought to my attention. The Minister appears to have dealt with the case relating to carers and has stated that carers can be given the credit and pay the voluntary contribution of €253 per annum. I want to ensure that this young woman, who was at the height of her professional career until she was struck down by an illness which leaves her unable to return to her chosen profession, will be accommodated within the social welfare code by means of the voluntary contributions system. I await the Minister's reply with bated breath, which I hope is in the affirmative. If it is not, I will revisit the matter and ask the Minister to change the regulations to permit her to be accommodated by the system.

See this speech in context