Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The social welfare system is designed to provide income supports and access to relevant services in a timely manner to all our customers. The system is neutral with regard to how it treats men and women; receipt of payment is dependent on contingency and other conditions being met. Levels of payment and how they apply are exactly the same for men and women. However, while there is equity in access to the social welfare system for men and women, the impact of past labour market experience and the traditional roles of women in the home can mean that they may indirectly be impacted upon within the system.

With regard to social insurance schemes, this may relate to insufficient or incomplete social insurance records. As regards means tested payments, the structure of the payments system could have had the effect of excluding certain categories, mainly women, from labour market supports and prevented them from becoming financially independent. As society has changed so too has the social welfare system and these impacts have been seen and continue to be, addressed by my Department.

The policy of Government over the years has been the expansion of the social insurance system to ensure that it is as inclusive as possible. A range of measures has been taken to facilitate access to insurance for those with incomplete records and to make the system more flexible to recognize the pattern of people's lives and the introduction of new payments reflecting caring responsibilities. These include the extension of social insurance cover to part-time workers, introduction of the home maker's disregard, extending coverage for maternity and adoptive benefits to the self-employed and the introduction of a carer's benefit. With regard to access to pensions, men and women are treated in exactly the same way under the qualifying conditions for old age contributory and retirement pensions. However, in the past many women left, or were forced to leave the workforce to care for family members and consequently have gaps in their insurance records. A number of measures have been introduced over the years to facilitate those with incomplete insurance records to receive payment. These include a reduction in the yearly average number of contributions required for pension purposes from 20 to ten and special half rate pensions based on pre-1953 insurance contributions. Pro rata pensions are also available to allow people with mixed rate insurance records to receive a payment.

The Government will continue with the aim of making the social insurance system as inclusive as possible and reflecting the life changing and evolving experiences of men and women. In terms of means tested payments, the ending of the use of qualified adult allowances in social assistance is one of the major recommendations in the report I recently launched in Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents and Low Income Families.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The report recommends the ending of the one-parent family payment and qualified adults in social assistance and the introduction of a parental allowance which would be payable to all low income families. This will both facilitate the person's financial independence and enable supports and services to be made available to the individual. At a broad level my Department is carrying out a technical review of the entire social welfare code to examine its compatibility with the Equal Status Act 2000, as amended. The review will identify any instances of direct or indirect discrimination, on any of the nine grounds under the Act that are not justified by a legitimate social policy objective.

The social welfare system must adapt so as to reflect the attitudes and expectations of society. In consultation with groups representing women and men my Department is and will continue to plan and implement reform which reflects these changing needs and to ensure equity in the system.

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