I move:
"That Dáil Éireann calls on the Minister for Social Welfare to eliminate discrimination against women in the area of eligibility for social welfare entitlements."
It has been a fundamental principle of international declarations such as the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights to guarantee equality of opportunity regardless of colour, sex or creed. It is a principle of our Constitution and a fundamental ideal of Fianna Fáil republicanism to remove all areas where inequality exists.
In recent years society has become more conscious of the obstacles that confront a woman who is anxious to play a more active role in the life of the community. Her progress is restricted by her educational background, by discrimination real or imaginary, by traditional or stereotype attitudes and in many areas by an absence of legal protection that would guarantee her equal rights as an independent person to participate in the cultural, economic, social or political life of the community.
The Thekla Beere Report on the Status of Women, in considering the problem of educational discrimination, commented:
By the time the average girl leaves school she sees her future life in terms of a relatively short period of gainful employment followed by marriage and responsibility for looking after the home and caring for children . . . . No plans are laid for a possible third phase of her life when her responsibilities in the home diminish.
This attitude may not encourage her to take full advantage of advancing in her employment and if she does not get married she may confine her working life to a career below her capacity. While it is not our view that the role of a woman as a wife or a mother carrying out the responsibilities in the centre of family life should be undermined, it is important for the proper development of married women as full and active members of the community that if they wish to work outside the home, whether for economic reasons or to relieve suburban boredom, they should be free to do so and any barriers in their way should be removed. The Thekla Beere report again stresses this point and emphasises:
Society in enabling her to exercise this right has the responsibility to recognise her function in relation to child-bearing . . .
and to organise her working life accordingly.
For the woman who wants to pursue her chosen profession, whether she is married or single, the right to compete without fear of discrimination must be ensured. As part of the move to eliminate discrimination in all these areas, women themselves through the various organisations and through a more active participation in trade unions and political groups have an important function. The State can only create a framework which will encourage a change in attitudes by updating our legal system to recognise a woman's basic rights, and that brings me to the main ingredient of the motion before the House.
It is the intention of Fianna Fáil when returned to office that all provisions of the social welfare code that are at variance with the principle of equal treatment will be abolished. The especially weak position of widows, deserted wives, unmarried mothers and prisoners' dependants must be provided for above the normal benefits so that the anxiety of working and caring for children will be somewhat minimised.
At a time when there is a greater demand by women for equal opportunity in employment, equal educational facilities and equal rights under the social welfare code, in the taxation system and before the law, it is possible for less protected groups such as widows to be ignored or left behind in the improvements that are slowly coming about. In this regard it is only proper that I should pay tribute to the Association of Irish Widows. The excellent work being done by them in keeping the problems of their members before the public eye is highly commendable.
The harshness of the social welfare code, particularly in relation to two categories—widows and female school leavers—is brutal. In their four-and-a-half years in office while this Government have done certain things in relation to women's benefits under the social security system, they should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves when they come to discuss the situation of widows and female school leavers. The experience of losing one's partner brings with it problems that are unique to each person and must be faced alone. The existence of the Association of Irish Widows must be a tremendous help in overcoming the initial loneliness and the experience and advice of other members is invaluable in overcoming problems.
Every effort must be made by State bodies, in particular by the Department of Social Welfare, to minimise the red tape encountered by a person thrown into the maze of pensions, welfare benefits, tax allowances, probate and the other matters that arise. It should be the aim of our society to provide for the eventuality of widowhood. No person or family used to a certain standard of living should be plunged into poverty on the death of a partner or parent. State and private pension schemes should have adequate provisions to safeguard against this. Where a father has subscribed to a pension or a superannuation fund, his widow should be entitled without qualification to 100 per cent of what he would have qualified for at the time of his death.
As a community we must strive for a social welfare structure that will allow the mother of a young or a school-going family to remain in the home to look after the needs of the children. In those circumstances no mother should be forced to go out to look for work which in many instances is not available locally or is not suitable to conditions prevailing in the home. Possibly the hours may clash with the time children are at home from school or the hours may not be flexible or may be too long. Consequently, the children suffer through neglect, unavoidable neglect brought about by the necessity to work.
This type of disruption caused by the mother having to go to work only adds to the already traumatic experience the family has suffered by the loss of the father, the designated breadwinner in our society. The widow of the young family faces very considerable hardship. The anomalies and discriminations against women are still rife in the social welfare code. It is only proper that before the general election on the 15th or 22nd of June the Parliamentary Secretary should get the credit he deserves for his concern for social security. He has been anxious to tackle the very glaring anomalies and discriminations in the social security code. Nevertheless, quite a number still remain to be dealt with. We hear very often from the Government, particularly the Labour element in the Government, their concern for the less well off sections of our society. They have been lauding at intervals the number of recommendations of the Commission on the Status of Women they have implemented.
We must examine the record. Any time a parliamentary question was asked about the removal of the continuing discriminations against women in the social welfare code, the Parliamentary Secretary has outlined what might be considered a litany of recommendations which have been implemented but the truth is otherwise. The reality is enshrined in a booklet available to members of the Oireachtas in the Dáil Library. It is a report by the Women's Representative Committee dated December, 1976. It is titled Progress Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations in the Report of the Commission on the Status of Women. It is presided over by a respected Member of this House, Mrs. Eileen Desmond who is Chairwoman of the Women's Representative Committee.
The Commission on the Status of Women was established by the Fianna Fáil Government on 31st March, 1970. It had very wide terms of reference which were:
To examine and report on the status of women in Irish society, to make recommendations on the steps necessary to ensure the participation of women on equal terms and conditions with men in the political, social, cultural and economic life of the country and to indicate the implications generally—including the estimated cost of such recommendations.
This booklet deals with many areas which the commission dealt with. The Department of Labour, the Department of Finance, the Department of the Public Service, the Department of Justice, the Department of Local Government, the Department of Health, the Department of Education and the Department of Industry and Commerce are dealt with.
We are concerned with the Department of Social Welfare which is dealt with in considerable depth on page 18 of this booklet. Recommendation No. 19 states:
The Department of Social Welfare should have as an objective the abolition of the special rate of benefit payable to married women and its replacement by the rate of benefit payable to single persons.
ACTION TAKEN.
To date no action has been taken on the Recommendation.
Recommendation No. 21 states:
Female Applicants for Unemployment Assistance.
The condition that a female applicant for unemployment assistance must have at least one dependant or must have at least 52 ordinary rate employment contributions over the four years preceding the application for unemployment assistance should be abolished.
ACTION TAKEN.
To date no action has been taken on the Recommendation.
There has been action in that the ordinary rate of employment contributions over the four years preceding the application for unemployment assistance has been reduced to 26 but it still leaves the basic discriminations. Why should female school leavers be discriminated against in this fashion particularly at a time of very high unemployment? If the Government were so concerned about the young people in our society they could surely with the stroke of a pen have done away with this dreadful anomaly against young women.
Why should young women not have the same rights and entitlements under the social welfare code as young male school leavers? Why should young females not have the same opportunities and advantages as young males? When Fianna Fáil set up the Commission on the Status of Women they recognised that there was a movement in society towards the breakdown in the discrimination between the sexes. If ever a group of people worked hard and if ever a group of people produced a social document, they did. They produced a Bill of Rights for women. It appears to me that a lot remains to be implemented in relation to the recommendations made under this Bill of Rights, particularly in relation to the Department of Social Welfare.
Recommendation No. 23 states:
Housekeeper Allowance Payable with Unemployment or Disability Benefit or with Unemployment Assistance: The "housekeeper" allowance at present payable to single men and widowers with dependent children during periods when they are in receipt of unemployment or disability benefit or unemployment assistance should be extended to single women and widows in similar circumstances.
ACTION TAKEN.
No action has been taken on the Recommendation. The "housekeeper" allowance payable to single men and widowers with dependent children when in receipt of unemployment benefit, disability benefit or unemployment assistance has not yet been extended to single women and widows in similar circumstances.
Recommendation No. 25 has been partially implemented. Recommendation No. 26 states:
Special Assistance for Widows on Widowhood: A special social welfare allowance, equal in amount to the maximum contributory widow's pension (without child-dependant allowances) should be paid to a widow in the six months following widowhood in addition to the ordinary pension, whether contributory or non-contributory, to which she is entitled.
ACTION TAKEN.
The Recommendation has been partially implemented by the provision under the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act, 1974, that the widow of a man who dies while in receipt of a social welfare benefit receives her late husband's benefit for six weeks after his death. When the six-week period expires she is then eligible for widow's pension under the usual conditions.
Recommendation No. 27 states:
Restrictions on the Payment of Widow's Contributory Pensions. Age or dependency restrictions, or a combination of both should be placed on the payment of the widow's contributory pension. The change should not affect widows who are in receipt of widow's pensions at the date of the change.
ACTION TAKEN.
No action has been taken.
Recommendation No. 31 states:
Women Retiring before 65 years of age.
A woman who is required under contract of service to retire from insurable employment before reaching the age of 65 years should be paid Social Welfare retirement pension at the normal age at which that pension is payable as if she had remained in insurable employment until that age.
ACTION TAKEN.
The Recommendation has been partially met by the abolition of the £1,600 remuneration limit for insurability. All persons required to retire before 65 years can now preserve the title to full retirement pension by qualifying for credited contributions. Credited contributions are granted by furnishing evidence of unemployment either by signing the unemployment register at the nearest Employment Exchange or by furnishing medical evidence of incapacity to the Department of Social Welfare.
In fairness it might be said that a new social welfare allowance has been introduced which provides for a means test allowance in respect of single women between 58 years of age and pensionable age and who are in poor circumstances. There is a very serious area of discrimination against women and, indeed, against men; but as we are relating this debate to women who are discriminated against under the social welfare code, I must keep within those terms of reference. On a number of occasions the Parliamentary Secretary indicated his intention to introduce the supplementary welfare allowances legislation whereby home assistance would be abolished. It is now almost 12 months since that promise was made but we understand that women on home assistance payments continue to be discriminated against and will continue to be discriminated against for as long as the legislation remains in abeyance.
The Parliamentary Secretary is genuinely concerned about the area of responsibility which for the time being is his. However, I should like to hear from him in relation to this promised piece of legislation, without which hardship is being inflicted on some elements in our society, particularly on the less well-off. There is the question, too, of the woman who may not come within any of the categories that are defined. It is not my wish to be critical in any way of the officers who operate the home assistance scheme. In the main they are men of compassion who to the best of their ability ensure that those who have recourse to the scheme are not humiliated by reason of the scheme's operation, but any humiliation there may be in this area would cease on the enactment of the promised legislation.
Recommendation No. 32 of the report refers to adjustments in social welfare allowances and to the introduction of equal pay. We know that the equal pay situation is farcical. It has become a joke in the hands of the Government. In regard to this recommendation the report reads:
A special allowance at the rate of £125 per year should be paid to families where there is at least one child under 5 years of age or where, if there are two children or more, the youngest child is under 7 years of age. The introduction of this special allowance should be phased in over a period ending not later than 31 December, 1977.
ACTION TAKEN
No action has been taken on the Recommendation.
Recommendation No. 40 reads:
Steps should be taken and any necessary legislation enacted at the earliest opportunity to ensure that divorced wives should be treated for social welfare purposes not less favourably than if they had remained deserted wives.
ACTION TAKEN
A woman who has been divorced by her husband in Britain or elsewhere is entitled to draw a deserted wife's allowance. Should her husband die, the allowance is continued, as a woman divorced abroad whose husband remarries is not regarded as his widow. She is therefore not entitled to a widow's pension but is entitled to draw the deserted wife's allowance.
In other words, when a husband who has remarried dies the law of this country, because of not recognising divorce, does not designate the wife to be a widow but continues to regard her as a deserted wife. This is extraordinary. However, there have been promises from this Government in relation to legislation in respect of divorce and in respect of contraception and so on, but we know what happened to those promises. It is a gross anomaly to regard a widow as a deserted wife. It is an anomaly that should be removed as soon as possible.
I should like to refer now to a questionnaire circulated to all Dáil Deputies by the Women's Political Association, a group of women who came together because of their concern for women. The group is made up of people of all political persuasions but they are not presided over by any political party in particular. From time to time I have had the pleasure of meeting this group. I know them to be serious and concerned. The questions they posed related to our attitudes, as public representatives, to such issues as women in public life, women and the law, women and the home, women and employment and women and social welfare. In regard to social welfare the first question posed to us was whether women should be given the same access as men to social welfare benefits. Without any equivocation and without any foot-dragging, we say, in support of the motion before the House, that women should be given equality with men in regard to social welfare entitlements.
The next question asked whether female school leavers should be entitled to unemployment assistance immediately on leaving school as is the case in respect of male school leavers. Again, our answer is "Yes". This is a clear case for the equality of the sexes but for the past four-and-a-half years this Government have allowed the operation of savage discrimination in this regard, despite the fact that for some time past we have been moving into an area where there is an obvious need for breaking down discrimination between the sexes.
Fianna Fáil saw the need for setting up the Commission on the Status of Women. It was that commission which gave rise to this whole discussion but which gave rise also to this Government's piecemeal attitudes to the recommendations of the commission.
Of course school leavers should be entitled to unemployment assistance immediately on leaving school; but one might ask how, since they have not been employed, they can qualify for benefit. We are talking now of an unemployment queue of, officially, 115,000 but unofficially, between 150,000 and 170,000. Yet this discrimination against female school leavers remains. In fairness to the Government they reduced the stamp requirement condition from 52 to 26.
The next question on the questionnaire asked whether a housekeeper allowance should be paid to women receiving unemployment assistance who had the care of one or more dependent children. Our reply to that is that the Constitution enjoins that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in work to the neglect of their duties in the home. That would appear to be a positive requirement of the law and it should be observed. The precise method of giving effect to it is only a question of detail as to whether it should be by a housekeeper allowance or otherwise.
The fourth question asked was whether we agreed that elderly single women who stay at home to look after sick and aged relatives should receive a higher rate of social assistance than at present, or if previously employed, accredited a contribution equal in value to an ordinary paid contribution. We replied that we are running into a situation in this country where there may be an imbalance as between the very old and the young, and this problem of looking after aged relatives is something that will be more of a problem as the years go on and as people live longer.
The public need can be regarded in this way as well when the cost of keeping a person in hospital as against home help is taken into account. Such charitable work by single people should certainly be encouraged. Again, the precise way that it should be done would be a matter of detail. When elected to Government Fianna Fáil will fill in the flesh on the bones of that detail.
The fifth question under this heading was whether we would agree that a woman in receipt of prescribed relative allowance should not be required to give up her job but should instead receive some financial assistance towards paying for a third party to care for the infirm pensioner. Our reply was similar to our reply to the previous question. A woman in receipt of prescribed relative allowance should not be required to give up her job but should receive some financial aid to ensure that she can pay a third party to care for the infirm pensioner. Surely that is an equal right in any socially conscious society. Why in the name of goodness should women be descriminated against under that heading? A pensioner is entitled to the balance of his life and he is entitled to be looked after with care, affection and love; but equally the woman looking after that infirm person is entitled to the continued development of her life through work or whatever activity she is engaged in. To ask her to remain day in and day out in her home looking after the aged parent is imposing grave hardship on her. I agree that she has an obligation, not so much a legal as a family obligation, to look after her aged parent or parents. Nevertheless, if we are moving in a properly structured society that society should recognise her right to a decent way of life.
The widowed and the female school leavers in our society have been humiliated by the present Government. The present Minister for Fisheries, speaking some time ago, implied that much money had been wasted in employing women, that one man is worth half a dozen girls in employment. The Minister for Labour has said "As an Administration we are not shirking our legislative responsibility to eliminate unfair discrimination on the grounds of sex". Of those droplets of wisdom from two men holding portfolios in the present Government certainly the Minister for Labour's jewel on behalf of the abandonment of sex discrimination related to the motion before the House bears no reality. The introduction of the legislation in this House today has not been bettered as a piece of gross hypocrisy and the so-called social legislation which the Minister for Labour introduced in the past months appears to be indicative that the Minister is living in cloud-cuckoo land.
I hope that when the women of Ireland come to vote in the election next month they will remember the words of the Minister for Fisheries, Deputy Donegan: "Too much money has been wasted in employing women. One man is worth half a dozen girls in employment." None of his colleagues has adverted to this piece of implied oratory which seems to represent the thinking of the present Minister if not of some or all of his colleagues. The Minister for Labour states blandly, in his own fashionable way, that the Administration—I assume he is referring to the present Administration— will not shirk their legislative responsibility to eliminate unfair dicrimination on the grounds of sex. Peace be to his concept of the elimination of equal opportunity and equal pay for women. The much-used phrase "equal rights and equal opportunities" has virtually no meaning for many sections of our society, and particularly the people we are concerned with in this motion—widows, female school leavers, deserted wives, prisoners' wives, old age pensioners and all those women who are suffering under the present social welfare code.