Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will speak a little further to recommendation No. 36, which is in this group. The purpose of this recommendation is to seek a report. The Minister mentioned the issue for report and the many reports that have been compiled, but the issues I am asking to be properly reported on and examined are those in respect of which there is a real lacuna. My proposed report would look to an assessment of the cost to the Exchequer of the various changes in policy on private pension tax relief, including the proposed changes that will come through under this shift in the threshold upward from €2 million towards €2.8 million, for example. It would also look for a gender analysis and a distributional impact assessment of pension tax reliefs. These are key pieces that are missing.

It was interesting that the Minister mentioned that we cannot look to these private pension tax reliefs without looking to the other areas of pension policy. In fact, that is exactly what has happened. We have had a disjoin. The conversation on private pension tax relief has been happening in one space, whereas the conversation relating to other areas of pension policy is happening completely separately. For example, the Commission on Pensions was, unfortunately, intrinsically flawed in its mandate and brief because it was specifically excluded from considering private pension tax relief. We have had this discussion, including in the context of the Commission on Pensions, which is looking at revenue. It is only the fact that the moneys being spent on private pension tax relief were explicitly not allowed to be discussed by that commission, that it came up with a quite - I would say ludicrous but for the danger it will be implemented - dangerous recommendation to increase the number of years that people need to have consistent contributions to 40 from the current 20 in order to qualify for the public State pension. We were told at the time that the cost of a universal State pension that every person would be entitled to, which was called for by the National Women's Council and many other groups, would be €3 billion and would be prohibitive within the economic constraints of pension policy. At the same time, however, the amount being spent on private pension tax relief is €2.9 billion. We are spending on private pension tax relief an amount equivalent to what it would cost to give every single person in the State the guarantee of a universal full State pension.

There has been a lot of talk as we approach the general election about the rates being raised by €5 here or €10 there and what might happen. When we talk about the full State pension, however, we need to be honest with people about living on a reduced rate pension. In my previous roles, I worked with the National Women's Council of Ireland and the Older and Bolder alliance, which is an alliance of all the age organisations in Ireland. We did round tables throughout the country and what we found was that women, in particular, were likely to be on reduced rate pensions because they did not have enough contributions to qualify for a full pension. Even during the recession when the full pension rate was not cut, many women experienced a practical cut in their pensions because they were on a reduced rate and the bands shifted. The contributory requirements increased. That was when the contributory requirements increased to 20 years. Now there are proposals to increase the contributory requirements to 40 years to get a State pension. That will affect women and part-time workers. When he spoke, the Minister's colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, acknowledged that the research shows us women are more likely to have gaps. While some care credits are accessible, they are limited because the goalposts have moved. Even if more care credits are allowed, people will have to have achieved an overall larger number of contributions.

We have a situation where the gender inequality that was in our pension system is likely to get deeply cemented by the shift to 40 years.