The Labour Party is promising to make homecare credits retrospective to 1973, a move that would benefit thousands of women who had to give up work outside of the home because of the marriage bar.
The proposal is part of a package of measures aimed at addressing long-term care needs of older people announced by the party yesterday in advance of the election, including increasing the State pension to €300 a week in the lifetime of the government.
The pledge on homecare credits means women who had to give up work before the ending of the marriage bar in 1973 will receive allowances for their work in the home and parenting, entitling them to a full independent contributory State pension.
Other measures promised in the elderly care package include:
• The provision of 1,500 public long-stay beds, 600 of them in the Dublin area;
•The development of an "out and about" €1 voucher scheme which will allow people over 65 access to sporting and cultural venues for €1;
• The establishment of a national "call to service" database of people over 65 who wish to give their time and skills on a voluntary basis;
• Specific training programmes for older people who wise to work or be self-employed;
• A more flexible approach to retirement so that those who wish to work beyond 65 and are capable of doing so will have a statutory entitlement to protection against being required to retire on grounds of age.
• The establishment of an office of ombudsman for senior citizens on the lines of the Ombudsman for Children.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the proposal to make home-care credits retrospective to 1973 would cost in the region of €150 million and was something the party would do "progressively" over the lifetime of the next government.
It would be done to recognise the "real contribution made by older women near or at pension age to both the Irish economy and Irish society".
Mr Rabbitte said over the next 20 years the numbers of people in Irish society aged over 65 would increase dramatically and the Government was not changing to meet the challenge.
On the proposal to issue a "call to service" to senior citizens, he said the generation that was retiring today still has that famous speech of John F Kennedy ringing in its ears and was ready to ask what they could do for their country.
Labour deputy leader Liz McManus said people were living longer than ever. With improvements in healthcare and social conditions, those who were once regarded as old and dependent now have the potential to play a far greater role in Irish society.