Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his plans to make changes to the social welfare system to make it more equitable for women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17674/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The social welfare system is designed to provide income supports and access to relevant services in a timely manner to all our customers. While there is equity in access to the social welfare system for men and women, the impact of the traditional roles of women in the home and the labour market has meant that women may, in some instances, be indirectly impacted with regard to access to schemes and support. This reflects the historical development of the social welfare system, which in turn reflected the views of society at the time. Issues in this regard are being tackled in a number of ways by my Department.

At a broad level my Department is carrying out a technical review of the entire social welfare code to examine its compatibility with the Equal Status Act 2000 (as amended). The review will examine the schemes and services provided for both in social welfare legislation and the administrative schemes operated by the Department. It will identify any instances of direct or indirect discrimination, on any of the nine grounds under the Act, including gender, marital status and family status, that are not justified by a legitimate social policy objective, or where the means of achieving that objective are either unnecessary or inappropriate.

The work is being carried out in two Phases. Phase 1 involves the undertaking of a scoping exercise to establish the most appropriate approach and methodology to carrying out the main review. This work is currently underway and is due to be completed in July 2006. Phase 2 of the work involving the undertaking of the main review, is due to commence in the latter part of 2006.

Focusing on access and eligibility to current social welfare payments and schemes, the policy of the Government over the years has been the expansion of the social insurance system to ensure that it is as inclusive as possible. Social insurance is important in that people can build a direct entitlement to social welfare payments in times of need regardless of their family, household or marital status. In 1991 those in part-time employment were brought into full social insurance cover, in 1995 community employment workers became insurable for all benefits and pensions, in 1997 coverage for maternity and adoptive benefits was extended to the self-employed and in 2002 there were changes to the PRSI contribution conditions which facilitated atypical workers and notably those worksharing.

With regard to recognition of caring, the maternity benefit scheme has been significantly improved over the past four years, in terms of both the duration of payment and the level at which it is paid. The means test for the carers allowance has been eased significantly in the past few years, while a carer's benefit was introduced in 2001.

With regard to access to pensions, men and women are treated in exactly the same way under the qualifying conditions for old age contributory and retirement pensions. However, in the past many women left or were forced to leave the workforce to care for family members and consequently have gaps in their PRSI insurance records. A number of measures have been introduced over the years to facilitate those with incomplete insurance records. These include the introduction of the homemakers disregards, the reduction in the yearly average number of contributions required for pension purposes from 20 to 10 and the introduction of special half-rate pensions based on pre-53 insurance contributions. Pro rata pensions are also available to allow people with mixed rate insurance records to receive a payment. This set of measures is of particular benefit to women who may have less than complete social insurance records due to working in the home.

There are, of course, those who cannot qualify for a pension in their own right. In this regard, the Government is committed to increasing the payment for qualified adults (age 66 or over) to the same level as the personal rate of the old age (non contributory) pension and to facilitate the direct payment of the allowance to spouses and partners.

In terms of means tested payments the ending of the use of qualified adult allowances in social assistance is one of the major recommendations in the report I recently launched on Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents and Low Income Families. The report recommends the ending of the one-parent family payment and qualified adults in social assistance and the introduction of a parental allowance which would be payable to all low income families. This will both facilitate the person's financial independence and enable supports and services to be made available to the individual.

The social welfare system must reflect the environment in which it operates and meet the changing needs of citizens. One of the most significant changes which has taken place in Irish society is the changing role of women in society. In consultation with groups representing women my Department is and will continue to plan and implement reform which reflects these changing needs and to ensure equity in the system.