Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. We will move to a total contributions approach because it is a fairer approach. It means you get back what you paid in. It will be over a ten-year period so it will be gradual. We do not want to disenfranchise some people. When you change things, there are always those who are better off and those who are perhaps not as well off but we will do it very gradually, over a ten-year period. It will apply from the beginning of January. I am currently bringing through the legislation to make the changes for the pension reforms I announced last year. As part of that, I will also bring forward the pension for long-term carers, which the Deputy mentioned earlier to me. That means the State enhanced pension provision for long-term carers, that is, in excess of 20 years, will be introduced from January 2024. That will mean benefit people, especially many women, who gave up their jobs and have been caring for a child with a disability, for example, all their lives and then found they were not entitled to a pension. That will allow them contributions for the time they spent caring.

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