Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this important issue. I wish to highlight the injustice done to a cohort of women, whose numbers are as yet undefined. They started their early years in the workforce in insurable employment and, after a number of years, in some cases due to the public sector bar, in other cases due to the fact they wished to rear their families, and in some cases to both, they retired from the workforce. In later years, they then found themselves in a position where they could go back to the workforce, having reared their families but, later again, on applying for the contributory old age pension, they found they did not qualify on the basis they had an insufficient average of contributions over the total period of their working lives.

A working life is determined on the basis of the period from the first year in which a person went into insurable employment to the last year in insurable employment, which could be up to 45 years in some cases. The sad part about all of this is that, in many of these cases, the same women could have qualified for a limited amount of contributory old age pension had they not gone back into the workforce at a later stage.

Essentially, I am trying to highlight the need for the Minister for Social Protection to address the issue, if at all possible, in the context of the Social Welfare Bill. While that may not be possible, it the cost aspect may not be so great that it cannot be incorporated into the Bill. One thing is certain, namely, at some stage in the future, this issue has to be addressed. It is grossly unfair that women who went into the workforce and were then forced, for one reason or another, to retire, having diligently given of their services and made their contribution, find themselves at a later stage to be outside the qualification limits. In some cases, they qualify for a means-tested old age pension, which is fine. However, if they have property or if a spouse or partner has a pension, they will not get a pension in their own right, and if their spouse or partner gets an adult dependent allowance, that will be means-tested.

This is an issue that affects quite a number of women, although the exact number cannot be determined at this stage. There is a need to address this. I would ask the Minister who is present in the House, Deputy Varadkar, to discuss this with his colleague in government with a view to identifying the precise nature and extent of the problem, and rectifying it.

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