John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To date, 36,000 older people are in receipt of a lower State pension payment than would have been the case prior to the band changes as a direct result of the changes introduced by the Government, of which the Minister was a part, in 2012. I commend Age Action Ireland on highlighting that in an excellent and very detailed report which it recently launched.

The Minister constantly points to the homemaker's scheme as some sort of saviour for women in ensuring they are not discriminated against for taking a caring role at home. The homemaker's scheme only applies to periods of care from 1994 onwards. The Minister acknowledges women in caring roles after 1994 but anyone who cared for someone before that is totally disregarded. Is that fair in the eyes of the Minister? Is it fair that the pensions system is punishing women for taking time out of the workforce to raise a family?

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