Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 4, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“Report on care credits 5. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on options to introduce care credits which ensure that periods of time spent caring are recognised not only in terms of pensions, but also when assessing other social protection entitlements or voluntary access to INTREO, Back to Education and other relevant schemes.”.

My amendment relates to carers in the wider sense and their access to social protection entitlements, not carers in terms of those who might qualify for the carer's benefit or allowance. My amendment relates to those who contribute care in other ways that may be recognisable, for example, in respect of qualifying for a pension but are not recognised in engagement with the social protection system.

We will discuss the pensions system later. There is provision within that system whereby a certain period spent, for example, caring for a family or children can be recognised as contributions when it comes to calculating somebody's pension eligibility. I am concerned by some of the limits and how such work is recognised but that is a separate discussion.

I want to discuss the individuality issue. If somebody has spent five or ten years caring for a family, he or she is prior to pension point invisible in the social protection system because most social protection payments or schemes consider a person's contributions for the previous the two years. If a person has been effectively out of the system for five or ten years caring for others or for family members, he or she is treated like a brand new applicant and any previous working contribution he or she has made is not considered valid and has expired in terms of relevance so only the most recent few years are considered. The reason that I am interested in care credits is so that people not just have the period of care assessed when it comes to pension but have the period of care recognised throughout. For example, if someone takes five years to deliver care then he or she should continue to be registered in the system and continue to be given PRSA stops for that period. I mean that it would not just be reflected in his or her pension but it would also mean that he or she has a relationship with the social welfare system whereby he or she could, for example, access back to education schemes, Intreo schemes or any schemes, particularly on a voluntary basis. All this would encourage people who have been at a distance from the system to engage and voluntarily access schemes or projects when, for example, a child enters secondary school and things might become more possible for a person. Historically, many people who were in the system and maybe paying PRSI stamps and who took a period out to provide care end up never going back into the social protection system except as a qualified adult or an adult dependant. That person becomes a financial contribution attached to his or her spouse's payment if the spouse is getting a social welfare payment but the person does not have an individual relationship with the social protection system that allows him or her to access schemes and projects. Again, for many people in making that decision to have that connection, the voluntary nature of engagement, and the fact that one may wish to, for example, start considering part-time employment and so on, are the options that should be there for people. This is worth considering. Seeing as the care period is going to be recognised anyway when it comes to pensions, why not start recognising it earlier so that it can function as a connection between the individuals, who are mainly women, and the social protection system on an ongoing basis? That would mean we would get multiple benefits from something that is going to get recognised when it comes to pensions.