Pension anomalies for women
Deputy Healy-Rae raised women affected by pension rule changes and then another group of mothers who received no pension for staying at home. The Minister said the reduced-pension anomaly would be rectified and that the non-contributory pension group included many such women, with their contribution recognised.
In 2012 the then Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, changed the pension rules. Women who came of pension age and applied for that pension in 2012 either got no pension or got a reduced pension. While the Taoiseach indicated he would start to address that anomaly in this budget, I would like to ask him about another category of women who are mothers to the men and women of today and who were altogether left behind. They got no pension because they reared their children and stayed at home. Many of them are in their 70s and 80s and are still alive. They deserve recognition in this budget as well to ensure they are in some way rewarded and recognised for what they have done for this country. They are the mothers of the people who are running the country today. I see the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Doherty, nodding her head.
Comment on this
I reassure the House that the 67,000 pensioners who received a smaller pension due to the change in the rate bands will have the issue rectified in the coming months. We had a lengthy discussion about it on Question Time this morning. It will happen between now and March of next year. There are a considerable number of people, just under 90,000, in receipt of a non-contributory pension, the vast majority of whom are the people the Deputy has described. There is no discrimination, alienation or non-recognition of the contribution those people made to rearing their families and to the State. The vast majority of them are women and they are in receipt of a non-contributory pension because they did not have enough or any contributions.