asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason the new system of pro-rata pensions for people with broken insurance records is confined to those who became compulsorily insured in 1974 as a result of the abolition of the earnings limit at that time; and the reason it is not extended to those who had a substantial number of contributions prior to 1974 but none thereafter.
Written Answers. - Payment of Pro-Rata Pensions.
29.
The arrangements made in the Social Welfare Act, 1988 for the payment of pro rata pensions were designed to address an anomaly which affected certain people who were brought back into compulsory insurance in 1974, when the upper earnings limit was abolished. These were people who had a record of insurance after 1974 but failed to qualify for contributory pension because of the intermittent nature of their insurance record prior to 1974. Persons in similar circumstances, however, who came into insurance for the first time in 1974 could qualify for pension. The pro rata arrangement is intended to cater for persons affected by this anomaly.
The extension of pro rata pensions to other persons who fail to qualify for contributory pension would have considerable financial implications. The question of pro rata pensions generally is being considered by the National Pensions Board in the context of its examination of pension arrangements as a whole.