asked the Minister for Social Welfare if it is a fact that owing to a Departmental error a former employee of the Cork Harbour Commissioners (name supplied) is now unable to qualify for an old-age contributory pension; and if, having regard to the fact that failure to qualify is due to such error, he will reconsider the application for payment of such contributory pension.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cork Old Age Pension Applicant.
56.
The claimant to old age (contributory) pension referred to by the Deputy did not fail to qualify as a result of Departmental error. His claim was rejected because he did not satisfy the contribution condition which requires that he must have a yearly average of not less than 24 contributions paid or credited. As he reached the age of 70 in 1954 this average fell to be calculated in his case over the ten or fifteen contribution years which ended in December, 1953. His employment by the Cork Harbour Commissioners from April, 1928, to December, 1952, was excepted from insurance under the National Health Insurance Acts and accordingly no contributions were payable in respect of him for that period. His employment was, however, insurable from January, 1953, under the Social Welfare Act, 1952. Contributions paid or credited in respect of this insurance were not sufficient to give him the required average of 24 contributions per year in either of the periods mentioned.
The decision rejecting his claim was reviewed on appeal but the appeals officer upheld the decision.
Are there many of these cases where persons employed were by special statute exempted from the obligation to stamp cards in earlier years? Are there many people disqualified as a result of these exceptional circumstances and, if not, would the Minister consider this limited category of cases and consider amending legislation whereby people who were in ordinarily insurable employment but for some exceptional statutory reason did not in fact stamp cards could be brought within the general intention of the contributory pension scheme?
There would be, I am sure, a number of cases of people who were not insurable until the Social Welfare Act of 1952. In this particular case there were only approximately one year's contributions paid, and surely it would be ridiculous to expect that an exception should be made in a case such as that?
I am not suggesting that an exception should be made of his case. Does the Minister grasp the point I make to him? A vast body of the people of the country are not in insurable employment — shopkeepers, self-employed persons and so on—but there were limited categories of people who would be in what would be ordinarily insurable employment but were by statute exempted from stamping cards. If that category is not unduly large, would the Minister consider that problem in connection with contributory old age pensions?
I would have no way of finding out how many such people there would be until applications would come in from them, but the fact is that the regulations could not be drafted to cover such people as those who were not in fact insured.