Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I move:

That Seanad Eireann, condemns the Government for its failure to modernise the current social welfare system and specifically calls on the Government to address the following in the upcoming budget;

—to honour its commitment in its programme for Government to introduce a personal pension entitlement for pensioner spouses currently in receipt of the qualified adult allowance, set at the level of a full non-contributory pension;

—the fact that those eligible for qualified adult payments do not receive payments directly;

—the fact that many people in voluntary work or caring work cannot have their work covered by PRSI "stamps";

—the fact that certain child dependant payments are not paid directly to the primary carer; and

—the fact that home carer's tax credits have not been increased since the introduction of tax individualisation.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan, is welcome to the House. It gives me great pleasure to propose this motion, which if implemented would make a significant difference to the lives of many people. The social welfare system should reflect the changing society we have today, which is completely different to that of 20 or 30 years ago. It is high time that the system was modernised and I recommend that the Minister do so. I know he is making some strides in that regard but much more must be done.

The social welfare system must recognise gender equality and provide economic independence for men and women. It must recognise women's participation in the labour market, which has changed significantly in recent years. In the wider context it must address matters such as enhancing work-life balance and the prevention of adult and child poverty. Unfortunately, despite our good economy we have a very high incidence of poverty among women and children.

The main gaps in the social insurance system involve people working full time as homemakers, relatives assisting and atypical workers. The Minister is aware that women make up 95% of qualified adults. In 2000, approximately 28,000 women were qualified adults of spouses or partners on pensions. I do not have current figures, perhaps the Minister can assist me in that regard. The 2002 programme for Government made the following commitment, "We will introduce a personal pension entitlement for pensioner spouses currently in receipt of qualified adult allowance set at the level of the full non-contributory pension."

Reform of the qualified adult allowance rates for pensions is critical for older women who at the age of 65 have a 41% chance of being below the 60% poverty line. The low number of people on social welfare means that the forthcoming budget is an ideal time and a great opportunity for the Minister to honour the 2002 commitment to increase the qualified adult rate to 100% of the personal payment for all payments. I will remind the Minister of that again and I will be extremely disappointed if he does not deliver on it.

Regarding direct payments, where a woman is dependent on her husband for income, her vulnerability to abuse and violence is increased. In order to shift this power dynamic and increase the economic independence of women, qualified adult payments must be paid directly to the qualified adult. I recognise that since October 2002, qualified spouses and partners of people entitled to a retirement or old age pension have been given the choice of having their part of the payment paid directly to them. However, an extremely small proportion of people have opted for this, and those who did apparently acted in response to problems in the internal household distribution of income. Thousands of others must be afraid to opt for it because it would cause household tension. To eliminate that possibility we should bring this about as a right rather than an option. That matter could be easily addressed by the Minister in the forthcoming budget.

The system of disregarding years spent working in the home devalues the work of homemakers and does not allow parents or carers working in the home sufficient entitlement to contributory pensions. By giving credits to homemakers with children up to the age of 12 for a maximum of 20 years, the Government will give recognition to the importance of parenting. Potentially, this affects 531,000 women officially designated as on home duties in Ireland. That is an extremely large number. Applying this measure retrospectively would allow women who have been carers from 1973 onwards the maximum 20 years credit for time spent caring, which could have positive implications for eligibility for a pension at the age of 66. This would include women required to give up work due to the marriage bar, which operated until 1973. The National Council on Ageing and Older People supports this measure.

It is vitally important that we respect traditional choices and do not force change on women and men who have made valid life choices. Concerns have been expressed that women over the age of 55 should not be forced into the labour market. The National Women's Council of Ireland in its publication entitled A Woman's Model for Social Welfare Reform stated, "these women should be facilitated towards independent entitlement through the use of pre-retirement allowances or credits".

What are the Minister's views on making voluntary work subject to PRSI? This type of work includes parenting and caring and would allow people in this area to build up an independent social insurance record. I wish to bring to the Minister's attention the plight of so-called "relatives assisting" and farming women. The relatives assisting are often spouses of business owners and usually women. It is suggested there should be at least obligatory insurance of all workers in family businesses. Legislation could be changed to enable self-employed people to ensure their spouses and relatives assisting are fully insured.

Farming women constitute a category of women working in family businesses who may face specific difficulties in arriving at self-employed status. Only 3% of farms are in joint ownership and men own 93% of farms. I was stunned to learn of this figure. While 50% of farm women have independent income and social insurance, the Irish Farmers Association has identified that the remaining 50% have no independent pension rights. This group should also be covered by social insurance.

Facilitation of what is termed the "buying a stamp" model, by which people could self-insure with administrative ease could be useful for localised purchase of social insurance and would also facilitate women who work in the informal economy. I await the Minister's response to the National Women's Council of Ireland's recommendations which I would also like to see implemented. The recommendations include the introduction of a part-time unemployment benefit and assistance for parents with children aged one to 12, so that women seeking part-time work would have their part-time unemployment recognised; a change in the S57 SI 312 1996 rule in respect of eligibility for credits to enable a re-entry credit for home-makers re-entering the system; and the abolition of the limitation rule. The rationale behind these recommendations is that part-time work is closely correlated with the age of school-going children rather than young babies. Women with older children are more likely to enter or re-enter the workforce when they can work part time. Over one third of unemployed women say they are seeking part-time work. Consequently, a social welfare system that only recognises availability for full-time work clearly cannot accommodate all women.

To facilitate women's transition from care work and parenting to paid employment, the introduction of part-time unemployment assistance and benefit is necessary. The two-year rule, whereby a person with no social insurance record for more than two years must have 26 paid contributions before credits can be awarded, is particularly unfair to women as it prevents those women with interrupted employment patterns from accessing benefits. By allowing homemakers to maintain a link with the labour market through entitling them to avail of labour market supports in their own right and by abolishing the two-year rule, the Government would facilitate the transition from home-making to paid employment.

The limitation rule limits the amount of benefits that two adults who are eligible for social assistance payments can receive. It assumes that two people can live more cheaply than one, thereby saving up to 15% of costs between them. Research highlights practical difficulties in determining actual economies as they differ from household to household and there is a question whether they exist.

The limitation rule has led to a greater number of women being classed as adult dependants. It also affects lone parents considering living with or marrying an unemployed man. Changes in society must be acknowledged and an effort must be made to address new issues. Women must be provided with choice and barriers must not be put in their way.

The inequalities and discrimination against women that I have outlined must be addressed by the Minister. Sufficient action has not been taken by the Government to address these matters. I hope the forthcoming budget and the healthy state of the Government's coffers will enable the Minister to address many of them. Women's economic independence must be increased, older women's poverty should be addressed and women's care work and access to employment should be facilitated.

The Minister has admitted that the present social welfare system is unfair. I compliment him for that statement. However, I remind him that actions speak louder than words. I hope following the budget he will take the necessary action to ensure that the social welfare system is modernised and that it is not unfair.