Dominic Coyleanswers questions on pensions for women forced to resign in the past due to marriage; and the applicable exchange rate for tax purposes on interest on savings in foreign banks.
Q I am a pensioner who left work in 1963 when married women had to resign. I am on a reduced pension, not having had enough stamps. I have read somewhere that a committee is trying to get us full pensions.
Do you know anything about this and how I can check whether I have more stamps than I'm given credit for, as I've worked on and off since then and paid stamps?
CC, Tipperary
A You are quite correct in your belief that someone is agitating on behalf of the group of women who, like yourself, were forced to leave their jobs when they married. The National Women's Council of Ireland has been weighing up the possibility of a legal challenge to force the Government - which was the employer of most of the women involved - to improve pension payments.
Group campaign development worker Valerie O'Carroll tells me that the organisation has received hundreds of letters and has been working with the Free Legal Advice Centres to assess the potential for any legal challenge on the grounds of discrimination.
As part of this process, many of the letters from women forced out of their jobs before the practice ended in 1973 with our accession to the European Union have been examined. Despite the common experience, there have inevitably been variations in individual recollection. To date, the process has taken over a year.
I am told that the advice centres are now looking at the possibility of pursuing a claim on the basis of a small selection of the letters they received.
However, they still need to check whether they are statute-barred, eg has the statute of limitations allowing legal action in these cases already passed?
The National Women's Council of Ireland concedes that this is a long, drawn-out process and says that it could be several years yet before any resolution is reached.
This is significant for the women concerned, for some of whom time may be running out.
Ms O'Connor tells me that the council is still interested in hearing from women who found themselves forced out of work by the marriage bar and the group would welcome the chance to hear from you. It is also lobbying to have the issue addressed under the green paper on pensions, on which the consultation period ended recently.
On the issue of ascertaining your entitlements and making sure that you are receiving credit for all the stamps you earned during your interrupted working life, you can either approach the Department of Social and Family Affairs directly or go through the National Women's Council of Ireland. It has a standard letter that facilitates the process with the department.
I am told it could be three months or more before you would hear back from the department, but it will get back to you on the basis of this letter and it will have a comprehensive answer.
If you need more information about your query, contact the National Women's Council of Ireland at 9 Marlborough Court, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1 or Tel: (01) 878 7248.
Q What particular exchange rate am I required to use for tax purposes in converting to euro the annual interest earned in a foreign (non-EU) bank account? Over the past year, with economies worldwide in turmoil, exchange rates vis-a-vis the euro have been fluctuating wildly. Am I permitted to choose the most advantageous exchange rate for my tax return (in my case, the rate as it was on December 31st, 2007)?
PO'B, Dublin
AWouldn't it be lovely to be able to choose the mortgage rate that best suited your purposes, but, as I am sure you suspect, this was never likely to be the case. As it happens, the Revenue does lay down rates for conversion of income from any foreign currency to the euro for any given year.
These are the average market mid-closing exchange rates supplied by the Central Bank and are available in the Revenue Commissioners' eBrief No 6/2008, which was published on February 1st and is available on the Revenue website, www.revenue.ie.
For instance, in relation to 2007, for the purposes of your tax return, income earned in sterling would be translated at the rate of €1 for every £0.6843. In dollars, every $1.3705 would equal €1.
• Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, QA, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or by e-mail to dcoyle@irish-times.ie. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice.
Due to the volume of mail, there may be a delay in answering questions. All suitable queries will be answered through the columns of the newspaper. No personal correspondence will be entered into.
