Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 7, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "Report on adequacy of State Pension

14.The Minister shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the income adequacy, as determined by the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) methodology, of the Contributory and Non-Contributory State Pensions for an urban older person living alone.

This returns us to the question of the minimum essential standard of living, MESL. The amendment asks for a report on income adequacy. This overlaps with what I was just discussing regarding contributory and non-contributory pensions for the cohort of urban older persons living alone. One of the reasons MESL is very interesting is that it looks at the differences between rural and urban contexts. It looks at the very many real situations in which people find themselves. It suggests there might be a few case study examinations of how adequate the contributory and non-contributory State pensions are in respect of older people living alone in an urban context. In a rural context there are specific extra costs and in urban contacts there are specific extra costs. The estimates are that the shortfall is approximately €17 per week according to MESL analysis. Perhaps it is something that could be looked at.

Amendment No. 6 is related to amendment No. 5 in that it is the same issue with regard to the non-contributory pension in this case. An urban person living alone in respect of the non-contributory pension is forecast under MESL analysis to have an income shortage of €17 per week. I have picked two case studies as examples of how the MESL could be more usefully applied.

Amendment No. 12 is very important. It is one of the issues regarding gender equality in our pension system that is fundamental. The amendment asks that there be a report on options for how applicants for the non-contributory State pension might be assessed on individual means rather than the means of their partners or other household members. This not only addresses the crucial issue of protecting older women in Ireland against poverty but also ensuring they have financial independence. Due to historical inequities, many women in Ireland will not qualify for a full contributory pension and many will qualify for a significantly reduced pension. The contributory pension reduced rate they might qualify for could be less than €100, if they qualify for any contributory pension at all.

Many women will not qualify for the non-contributory pension. In the case of the non-contributory pension the fact their partners or husbands might have an income will stand against them. Many people have adult children living at home who are working. Their income will also be counted against them in the assessment of household means. Many older women in Ireland only feature either as a qualified adult dependent increase on their husband's non-contributory pension or do not have any money at all.

When it comes to domestic violence, vulnerabilities or financial abuse, which we know is a huge issue, a lot of women in Ireland do not have access to independent income. This is why assessing these women for the non-contributory pension based entirely on their own means and making sure they would individually be able to qualify for the non-contributory pension in their own right and have income in their own right would go some way towards reflecting and addressing the issues of income inequality and the lack of financial independence for women. The individualisation of means assessment in this particular way was a specific recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality. There is a lot of repair work to be done on the pension system but this is a comparatively simple measure that would certainly start us in the right direction.