Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 3, after line 25, to insert the following:

“Maternity benefit – members of the Houses of the Oireachtas

5. The Minister shall, within 3 weeks of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both

Houses of the Oireachtas on the payment of maternity benefit to public office holders

who are members of either such House and who cease to be such a member in the period

during which maternity benefit is normally payable to employed contributors under the

Principal Act.”.

Based on the Minister's previous utterances, I anticipate that she will not accept the amendment on the basis that it calls for a report and she is not of a mind to accept any amendment to this legislation that calls for a report. However, I want to take a stand, if you will, for colleagues who find themselves in a position where if they lose their seats during their maternity leave, they could find themselves in invidious positions due to the loss of income.

PRSI class K is the stamp paid by Members of the Oireachtas, Members of the European Parliament and members of the Judiciary and it does not entitle them to any social insurance benefits. The Minister will be aware it was brought in during the financial crisis as a de facto pay cut for officeholders, which, unlike other financial measures in the public interest, FEMPI, has not been reversed. There is an anomaly between elected representatives since 2017 when the Minister for Social Protection signed SI 671 of 2016, which moved local authority members onto class S PRSI. This entitles them to self-employed social insurance benefits, which include State maternity benefit. The rationale given in numerous parliamentary replies is that this was done on the basis that councillors did not have access to an occupational pension under class K, while Members of the Oireachtas do. This was welcome. It was done by the then Minister, Deputy Varadkar. However, no consideration seems to have been given to addressing the State maternity benefit gap for any other class K payer, such as Members of Oireachtas or Members of the European Parliament if they cease to be officeholders during a 26-week period following the birth of their child. I contend that it is a major oversight. I am seeking to have it addressed in the only way I know how and that is by seeking a report, because I was told that my amendment No. 5, which makes a specific recommendation, was ruled out of order. I understand that. It was by dint of it imposing a charge on the Exchequer.

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