Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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40. To ask the Minister for Social Protection given the budgetary surplus reported in his Department and further to Parliamentary Question No. 9 of 30 September 2015, in which the former Minister stated on plans to address the inequality experienced by persons who are in receipt of reduced pensions because of the marriage bar, that "we do not as yet have the resources as a country to be in a position to fund what it would cost"; and if he will now address this issue. [11638/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The ‘marriage bar’ describes a rule that existed in most of the public service and some private sector employments, where women were required to leave their employment on marriage. This practice was abolished in 1973 when we joined the EEC. As employees in the public service generally paid a reduced rate of PRSI which provided no cover for the State pension, the marriage bar would not have impacted on State pension entitlement. It would have impacted on their continuing public service employment, and eventual entitlement to a Public Service pension. This is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and reform. Budget 2016 contained a number of measures to benefit pensioners. Firstly, the State pension (contributory) rate was increased from €230.30 to €233.30 per week, and the State pension (non-contributory) rate was increased from €219 to €222 per week. Where a pensioner does not qualify for a full rate contributory pension, they may make a claim to the latter payment, which is means-tested, if that entitles them to a higher payment. These increases will benefit more than 676,500 pensioners and their dependents this year. Proportionate increases also applied for qualified adults on pensions where they are aged 66 or over. Secondly, a couple in receipt of the maximum rate of the State pension contributory would have received a 75% Christmas Bonus of €327.50 in the first week of December 2015. Finally, pensioners may also have benefitted from the increase in Fuel Allowance from €20 to €22.50 per week for the duration of the fuel season.