Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Jun 1991

Vol. 409 No. 4

Written Answers. - Part-Time Work Rules.

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

32 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason the rules in allowing a small amount of part-time work were changed for those seeking the retirement pension.

Retirement pension is payable to persons who have reached 65 years of age and fulfil certain statutory conditions. One of these conditions is that the person must have retired from insurable employment or insurable self-employment. However, employment of inconsiderable extent, for example part-time work of less than 18 hours, which is not insurable is disregarded for the purposes of the retirement condition.

I recently introduced regulations extending social insurance cover to part-time workers earning £25 a week or more. These regulations redefined employment of inconsiderable extent as being an employment where the employee's earnings are less than £25 per week. This change has a consequential effect on the retirement condition for retirement pension purposes. Retirement pensioners who were previously engaged in part-time employment of less than 18 hours per week but earning more than £25 per week, are now regarded as being engaged in insurable employment and thus in breach of the retirement condition.
The basic purpose of the retirement pension scheme is to provide a person with an alternative income to offset loss of earnings in the event of retirement from work. The retirement condition is designed to ensure that the pension is only payable where there is in fact such a loss. The concurrent payment of a retirement pension with earnings derived from insurable employment would be difficult to justify.
I have arranged that these new provisions will not effect those already on retirement pension or who qualified prior to 6 April 1991.
Top
Share