Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Tá an Comhaontas Glas sásta tacaíocht a thabhairt don rún seo. Maidir leis an míchothromaíocht atá á léiriú ag córas pinsin an Stáit i leith na mban sa náisiun seo, is léir don dall nach bhfuil meas a léiriú ag an Rialtas ar na mná seo. Agus mar sin, mar shocaí agus mar pholaiteoirí, caithfimid dul i ngleic leis an éagóir seo gan mhoill.

The pension gap has widened in recent years between men and women, with women now having, on average, 37% less of a pension to live on than men. The introduction in 2012 of new bands for pensions, the homemaker's scheme not applying prior to 1994 and the marriage bar are all measures which discriminated strongly against women, and they all continue to maintain discrimination in society and the economy today.

The Taoiseach said that he planned to "reward work and enterprise" in budget 2018, but it appears that fair pensions for women forcibly barred from work by the State were not on the radar of his so-called just society or republic of opportunity. The Green Party has submitted an amendment to this motion seeking the homemaker's scheme to be applied retrospectively to 1973 and calling on the Government to indicate a timeline to eliminate this patent discrimination which the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has described as both "bonkers" and "unbelievable".

In 2012, the previous Government introduced changes to the eligibility criteria for the contributory State pension, changes which adversely and disproportionately affect women. The Government seems intent on continuing this discrimination, as it indicates plans to replace the current system with the "total contribution" approach for "new" pensioners from 2020 - the key word here being "new", as the Government will be ostracising pre-2020 pensioners by excluding them.

The Green Party amendment to the motion calls on the Government to ensure that any such introduction would apply to all contributory State pensions and pensioners.

I commend Deputy O'Dea on bringing this motion before the House. However, it is a shame this issue was not a priority in the lead-up to the budget. Thus it did not feature in budget 2018. That is most regrettable. It is a missed opportunity, but not only on the part of the Government. Where was the Fianna Fáil voice when it was needed and could have made a difference for thousands of women in budget 2018?

At last, this campaign, which has been championed by the National Women's Council of Ireland, Age Action Ireland and the Irish Countrywomen's Association, is gaining momentum. The Fianna Fáil intervention today, however belated, is still to be welcomed because it is never too late to do the right thing. It is better late than never.

During the past week we have heard many Government politicians talk the talk about how unfair the current pension system is. Despite the candid admissions, there remains a deep reluctance on the part of Government to give any firm commitment to redress this issue effectively and fairly. The demands of these people, mostly women, are not unreasonable. They simply seek equality and justice, and they are right to insist on these. When discussing pension contributions, we should not forget the contribution these women have made to society. Their valuable contribution to society is clearly underappreciated and undervalued by this Government. The thousands of women who continue to be forgotten by this Government deserve more than recognition of their plight. They deserve so much more than words. They deserve equality.

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