Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are not moving the goalposts. The only reason we would consider moving to 40 years is because people who will retire from 2020 onwards will have had the opportunity to have had 20 full years plus working, because they will be 66 or 67 at that stage. In addition, we are adding in the gaps for caring. We changed the caring credit. Historically, the homemaker's credit was only for women who stayed at home to mind their children but we recognise that families have changed in recent years and women do not just stay at home to mind their children any more. We stay at home to mind our grannies, brothers and other extended members of our family. That is the reason we changed the credit. No decision has been made on whether it will be 30 and 10 or 40 and 20 years.