Results 2,001-2,020 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will begin with pensions and then move on to some wider issues. While benchmarking and indexation of the State pension would be welcome, the concern relates to who will get the full pension. Changes were made to the State pension system in 2012. As of a couple of years ago, two thirds of those receiving the full contributory pension were men, with women making up only one third of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is a 30-year requirement on that total contributions approach.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Lawler said less than half of women are qualifying for the full contributory pension under that system.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is still very significant. Our remit here is gender equality and making sure we do not embed further gender inequality. We are talking about a situation where less than half of women are qualifying for the full contributory pension, so, on that point on benchmarking and indexation, if people are on a reduced rate, they will be below whatever the benchmarking and indexation rate is in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is very notable as it is almost exactly the same figure that we are spending on private pension tax relief. Has there been a comparative gender analysis of the gendered benefits of a universal pension costing €2 billion to €3 billion versus the private pension tax relief, which costs almost the exact same amount per year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Was it correct that the Commission on Pensions did not look to, if not removal, then removal or reform of that private pension tax relief? We know there is research that it predominantly benefits men on higher incomes and the Department might confirm that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: And a gendered analysis generally on the gap between the 20 years recognised for care that I had asked about and the 40-year threshold. I am concerned that only 20 years are recognised for care but we have moved to a 40-year contributory requirement. I want to know how that gets bridged. I also want to know if there has been a very robust gender analysis of all of these measures, including...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That does not cover private pensions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There was the final question on what is the Department's plan in regard to the gap between 20 years of care credits being recognised and a 40-year requirement for contributions. Of course, a 20-year working requirement is actually more than we had in 2012.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There is a three-quarter level piece if we look at the ten-year or 20-year contribution whereas previously, a person only required a total of 20 years' contributions. Now, at 40 years, to get the full pension, a person has to have a 20-year employment contribution record or he or she needs this particular narrowly applied scheme.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am happy to let others come in and then I might come back on the other payments.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have two sets of questions and I may kick off where Deputy Clarke left off, around lone parents and the child maintenance review group. Given that the report has been ready since April, it would be useful if it was to be published. I request that it be published in the next month or so in order that we can incorporate it into our report because it is extremely relevant. Given that the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I suppose that is where the gender analysis comes in. Probably the most relevant part of individualisation is ensuring an independent source of income rather than having one person in the household in financial control who is effectively determining the finances. We are comfortable, it seems, with a private pension tax relief, which is predominantly going to men and those on higher incomes....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am not necessarily suggesting a transfer; I am actually suggesting that we might need an additional scheme. I am aware that, under the directive, leave cannot be shared. Therefore, there is nothing to stop us from introducing an additional scheme in respect of lone parents.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There are two or three points. One relates to those who are in a relationship. We have had stories of people being quite aggressively pursued on whether they are cohabiting and so on but even if somebody is cohabiting or in a relationship, that person is still accepted as the parent of that child. Just because a person may have started a relationship with somebody, it does not mean he or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will finish. I have one positive point that can be answered alongside Senator Doherty's questions. I wish to praise the important work on the minimum essential standards of living that has been supported by the Department. I note that the adequate standard of living is specifically one of the recommendations of the citizens' assembly, when they talked about a basic income. I hope that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I wish to pick up again on a couple of points. As Senator Doherty said, it would be very useful and important for our committee’s work if we had some sense of what the gender analysis process has been on pensions within the Department – not within the commission – in terms of its proposals. Specifically, what modelling has there been around the potential impacts of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I apologise; I have one last thing on care credits that relates to Senator Doherty’s comments There was a problem where people were not getting credits because they previously did not have a social protection record such as, for example, those who had come home from abroad to care. Has that been addressed? Are those people getting captured in terms of PRSI stamps at the moment? ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We need that granular analysis around pensions. We need to do a deep dive on gender and pensions. It is useful to model a few different approaches to bridging the gap and treat it as a problem, which it is.