Emmet Stagg
Question:65 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether a person (details supplied) in County Dublin is eligible for a reduced social welfare pension on the basis of her partial social insurance record.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Pension Eligibility.
One of the qualifying conditions for receipt of contributory old age pension under the Social Welfare Acts requires a person to have a yearly average of at least 20 reckonable contributions over the period from the beginning of the 1953 contribution year or from her year of entry into insurance, which ever is the later, to the end of the last complete contribution year before reaching pension age.
The Department's records show that the person concerned has a total of 693 reckonable contributions in the relevant period, which, in this case, is from 1953 to 1990. This total is equivalent to a yearly average of 18 and is, therefore, not sufficient to qualify her for a contributory old age pension.
There is no provision within social welfare legislation to pay the person concerned a reduced rate pension based on her contribution record.
The eligibility conditions for social welfare pensions generally are at present being examined by the National Pensions Board as part of its report on the development of a new national pensions system. It is expected that this report will be completed this summer. The contribution conditions for pensions, including the question ofpro rata entitlements, will be addressed in that report.