Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, to the House and congratulate her on her appointment. I commend Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell on her report. This is an incredibly important conversation. She is correct to say that the arts have been able to have this conversation in the past, going right back to the ancient Greek writers and to Irish writers such as Michael Longley and others who have drawn inspiration from it and who recognised that when we look to the essence of what it is to be human, we also need to look to the essence of what it is to live and die and our duty to the dead as well.

Having worked with Older and Bolder, campaigned on the national positive ageing strategy and talked about the demographic dividend, it was an interesting read and a challenging read to go to the next step and to consider death and bereavement. I commend Senator O'Donnell on making this conversation happen, not just between the State and citizen but within the State. Each of us who read the report was given pause for thought. One can see that in the correspondence the Senator has had with Departments such as the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and the Department of Finance. She showed them how they have a relationship and responsibility in respect of death. I was really struck, for example, by the Department of Defence and the view it had following the experience of those who have seen the thousands of migrants who have died in the Mediterranean Sea. It is now considered that they might need training in cultural norms to understand the different experiences of death that are happening with those around them. There was a huge sensitivity and detail in all those areas. Another area of note was the role of educators and, in terms of childhood bereavement, the need for psychologists. In the area of health we must consider the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act and the advance care directives. We have an anomaly in the State where pregnant women are, unfortunately, excluded from some of that advance care protection.

Given the limited two minutes I have I must abandon most of my points and focus specifically on social protection because I am a member of the Joint Committee on Social Protection. The proposals in this regard are concrete and solid. They include the gender pension gap, the very real and concrete issues identified by Age Action and others and the real problems for women in particular who tend to become distant from the system. I refer to qualified adults, people who are dependent on a spousal pension who often find themselves in a real limbo and disconnect from the system itself.

I highlight again the importance of the bereavement grant, even as a point of reconnection with the system and something people can access because an exceptional needs payment, which is means tested, is not something someone who has been outside the system will be able to access at that time of urgent need. The bereavement grant has had a very crucial role. Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell has called on the Minister to look at the issue of funeral poverty. Reference has been made to Scotland in this regard. We have seen the impact of funeral debt in the UK. This is an important issue.

It is a key moment when a person finds himself or herself living alone. The living alone allowance is important in terms of how people are supported to make that possible and allowing them to continue to contribute to society and their community while living in their home for as long as possible.

Others have spoken about home care and quality care but it is crucial that there is recognition of care in our system with the care credit. It is vital in terms of the pension and the long-term security of people to ensure we do not penalise those who have delivered care, as is currently the case. Reintegration is an important issue. People in their 50s, for example, might have cared for five or ten years and they want to re-enter and re-engage with the system. A care credit would be important to allow someone who is coming out of a bereavement to re-enter or retrain and come back into his or her own life having generously contributed and supported the State through his or her work of care.

Assisted technologies were mentioned but I wish to-----