Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 22 Oct 1992

Vol. 424 No. 2

Written Answers. - Old Age Contributory Pension.

Seán Ryan

Question:

174 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason for the refusal of an application for a pro rata old age contributory pension from a person (details supplied) in County Dublin given that the applicant was intermittently in and out of insurance and eligibility from 1953 to 1968 as a direct consequence of the change of Government policy on this matter and given also that the applicant was not made aware of the changing situation either by his Department or his employer; if he will review this case with a view to (a) granting him credits for the periods in question and thus enable the pro-rata pension to be paid or (b) refunding the contributions made during this period.

Minister for Social Welfare (Mr. McCreevy)

In order to qualify for a prorata (mixed insurance) old age contributory pension, an applicant must have a mixture of full-rate and modified rate contributions, that is, contribution rates payable through having been an employee in both the private sector and the public service. The application by the person concerned for a pro-rata (mixed insurance) old age contributory pension was unsuccessful, as he paid standard rate insurance contributions only. The mixed insurance provisions do not apply in his case.

There was a statutory earnings limit in force from 1912 to 31 March 1974 whereby a person was not compulsorily insured when his or her earnings exceeded certain specified limits. This limit increased by legislation from time to time. It appears from gaps in the insurance record of the person concerned that his earnings may have been above the insurable limit intermittently during his employee career up to 1968.

Special provision was made in the Social Welfare Act, 1988, to provide a pro-rata pension for people who were affected by the operation of the insurable income limit prior to 1974. A condition of this arrangement was that people must have been in insurable employment at the time the income limit was abolished in April 1974. The person concerned was not in insurable employment at that date and, therefore, is not eligible for a pension under these rules.

Those affected by the earnings limit were free to become voluntary contributors, thereby maintaining entitlement to contributory pensions. According to the records of my Department, the person concerned paid voluntary contributions in 1966 and 1967 only. He did not continue to contribute voluntarily when he became a selfemployed shopkeeper in 1968. Consequently, his entitlement to old age contributory pension was not maintained.

It is not possible to refund the pension element of his insurance contributions to the person concerned. The only situation in which contributions can be refunded is where a person enters insurable employment or self-employment for the first time after reaching the age of 55 years. The person concerned entered insurable employment many years prior to reaching this age. Similarly, there is no legal basis for awarding credited contributions in respect of periods during which earnings exceeded the statutory upper earnings limit.

I regret that the legislation does not allow a contributory pension to be paid to the person concerned. However, it is open to him at any time to apply for an old age non-contributory pension by completing the appropriate application form.