Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Over the last few weeks there has been much reflection on the Taoiseach's political career and what happened under his Governments. I wish to focus on a very bad decision by his Government in the brutal budget of 2012, which I strongly opposed. In that budget the pay related social insurance, PRSI, contribution rates, which numbered four down through the decades, were expanded to six. People with average contributions of between 20 and 47 who have become pensioners since 2012 have suffered very significantly.

The Government also gratuitously cut the pensions of people who had between ten and 20 contributions. Many of my senior female constituents who suffered most from this describe these changes as petty and sneaky. Professor Alan Barrett rightly said that the rules of the game were changed in the middle of the game. I was reminded of this great injustice a few weeks ago when Age Action published its report, entitled Towards a Fair State Pension for Women Pensioners, which was researched by Ms Maureen Bassett. The report clearly demonstrates the hugely negative impact of these changes, especially on senior female workers who have retired since 2012 and on those who will retire in the coming years. A total of almost 40,000 citizens in the lower four bands were adversely affected up to June 2016. Almost two thirds of those pensioners are women. Typically, at current budget 2017 contributory pension rates, people in band three averaging 30 to 39 contributions a year lose €19 a week, people in band four averaging 20 to 29 contributions lose €30 a week, people in band five averaging 15 to 19 contributions lose €23 a week and people in band six averaging ten to 14 contributions over their working lives lose €23.50.

The pension problem for that generation of female workers born in the late 1940s - the Taoiseach's own generation - is exacerbated by the averaging method over the whole employment history from age 16 which is used to calculate contributory pensions. Many women in this cohort have interrupted contribution histories since they worked for period in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and then carried out home caring duties for perhaps up to another two decades before they returned to the workforce.

The Government has also consistently refused to backdate the homemaker's scheme beyond 1994. The doubling of the necessary number of stamps to 520 - in which Fianna Fáil also was involved - has also gravely disadvantaged this cohort of women. As many of my own affected constituents note, the marriage bar was in place until 1973 and they raised families in an era of little or no help for children.

Is it not time to begin a restoration of the pension entitlements of that cohort born in the late 1940s? We have had the Haddington Road agreement, the Lansdowne Road agreement and the agreement with the junior doctors this morning. I ask the Taoiseach to ask the Chairman of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight to urgently examine the detrimental impacts of the contribution band changes, to begin to bring forward the process of restoration, to set up the interdepartmental committee for which Age Action has asked to work towards the universal state pension and for caring credits.

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