The Social Welfare & Pensions Bill tackles many areas including:

– Fraud and Control
– Recovery of overpayments
– Entitlement to Family Income Supplement
– Habitual Residency
– Extending Social Insurance Cover
– Pensions

I focussed my brief contribution on 1) Extending social insurance cover and 2) Pensions.

The Bill proposes extending social insurance cover to assisting spouses/civil partners of self-employed contributors and is a long overdue, but very welcome step, in moving to protect employers in our economy. Small businesses are net job creators in the economy and it is only right that the social protection net be there for self-employed people and their partners equally, as it is for employed people.

Insofar as the area of pensions is concerned, the Bill provides for an amendment to the Pensions Act regarding the notification procedures from the Authority to scheme trustees. But I spoke on the wider point of the looming pensions crisis and how work to address the problem must be started now, and started with a new Minister for Pensions.

You can watch my contribution here.