asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider the advisability of amending the Old Age Pensions Act, 1932, to enable persons born in a country outside Éire to qualify for an old age pension in a lesser period than 30 years' residence in Éire, which is at present required by the Act.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Amendment of Old Age Pensions Act.
I do not propose to introduce legislation to amend the Old Age Pensions Act, 1932, in the manner suggested by the Deputy.
Surely the Parliamentary Secretary is aware that this is a penal Act inasmuch as it provides that a person must be resident 30 years in this country before he can qualify for an old age pension. Would he not consider reducing the period to at least 20 years?
I think the Deputy will find that the method of computing the residence period is very generous. The number of cases of hardship under the law as it stands would be very small and I do not think there is any justification for an amendment of the law on the lines suggested by the Deputy.
The small number of cases of hardship and the low cost to the revenue are all the more reason why the Government should reconsider this provision. It is certainly a penal Act as it stands, considering that in other countries six years' residence is deemed sufficient to qualify a person who is otherwise entitled to a pension. A period of 30 years in this country is a perfect disgrace. I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary to reconsider this provision in the Act. It would not affect more than 20 or 30 cases in the country.
Having regard to the fact that if a person who has been living outside the country can establish that if he or she has been maintaining some relative here, the period during which he or she has been doing that is not regarded as residence outside the country, and also having regard to the other fairly generous means of computing the residence period, I cannot see that there is any case in favour of such an amendment.