Social welfare changes to be introduced over the coming year would result in the system becoming much fairer to women, Minister for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan said yesterday.
In a speech to mark International Women's Day, Mr Brennan said more enlightened welfare reforms would give proper recognition to the status of women in today's society.
He said he was finalising reforms for lone parents which would wipe away restrictive rules, including that of cohabitation, and bring in policies that would offer supports and encouragement.
As well as solid income supports, the reforms would offer much greater support and advice on accessing well-paid employment, education and training.
Mr Brennan said a number of supports were being introduced aimed at facilitating a better balance of work and family life.
Maternity benefit, for example, had been extended from 14 weeks unpaid leave in 2000 to 26 weeks, or six months.
A series of changes was also under way in the area of pensions, in particular the qualified adult's allowance, the vast majority of whom were women.
Up until a few years ago they were classified as "dependants". In the last Budget a number of fundamental reforms were introduced, such as bringing the rate of payment up to the level of the State pension within three years.
He said this process would begin this year and would boost the income of more than 35,000 people.
Equally significant was the fact that qualified adults would receive the payment in their own right, rather than being treated as dependants.
"This is an important step forward in my commitment to ensuring that the welfare code is fairer to women. As most qualified adults are women, this decision will be of enormous benefit to them as it will, in most cases, transform the payment into what is, in effect, a woman's pension in her own right, as distinct from being a dependant allowance."
However, he sounded a warning note over the lack of pension cover for women in general.
He said the majority of working women, based on the present facts, faced retiring on a State pension that at present stood at just over €7,000 a year.
"My serious concern is that while women will undoubtedly live longer, many may also end up living poorer," he said.
He said that in a Green Paper on pensions policy that was now nearing completion, alternative solutions must be looked at, new products devised and the pensions landscape fundamentally changed.
