Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. I support the amendments. The work on minimum essential standards of living involves some of the best and most solid and significant research that has been supported by the Department of Social Protection. Given that 2,000 goods are examined in the process, it is probably one of the best examples of addressing the cost of living, rather than some of the broader brush strokes often used. It is significant and represents a really good test to apply to social welfare. It would also be very good to apply it to the adequacy of the minimum wage. At a minimum, it is a very useful test for social welfare payments.

In supporting amendment No. 11, I believe that while the age of retirement is one issue, a fundamental issue, which should be one for our colleagues in the unions and elsewhere during the next election campaign, is that if there is an increase to 40 years of contributions, huge swathes of the population of the State will end up on a reduced-rate pension. Historically, this has happened to women, with a very negative impact.

The move from 20 years to 30 years was well signalled, but moving to a requirement to have 40 years of contributions to get the full State pension will force people to work into their 70s. Age is one element but we do not want an indirect measure, through an unreasonable doubling of the contribution requirement, that has the same effect in terms of forcing people to work. We do not want to go the route we see in the United States, for example, where people in their 70s must collect trolleys simply to build enough credits to have a basic income.