If pension scheme is ‘bonkers’, change it, Minister

PASCHAL DONOHOE must use the Finance Bill to fix unfair pension practices affecting women who left work to care for children, a campaigner said.

Many left because of a previous ban on married women working in public services, a ban the Finance Minister described as ‘bonkers’, but he didn’t address the issue in the Budget. It came to the fore this week when he was challenged on RTÉ radio by the husband of a woman affected.

The Irish Mail on Sunday revealed details of thousands of women affected by the practice, just last month, and told the story of two women directly impacted. Pension calculations land a double-blow to the women. Firstly, contributions are averaged out over the working life from teens to retirement as if there was no gap resulting in a lower average.

And in a further blow, the Government added extra pension bands in 2012, making it harder to get higher payments. Now Orla O’Connor of the National Women’s Council said: ‘Women are angry about this, there is an injustice here. There is an opportunity for the Government to change this, and that’s in the Finance Bill.’