Vol. 424 No. 10
109 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Welfare the present position with regard to entitlement to old age contributory pension for persons with a yearly average of more then 20 contributions, some of which are in respect of employment from 1945 to 1952; if the report on this has issued from the committee studying the matter; if he expects to issue recommendations on the subject in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
To qualify for an Old Age Contributory Pension a person must have entered insurance at least 10 years before reaching pension age, have at least 156 contributions paid and have a yearly average of at least 20 contributions registered since January 1953 when the unified social insurance system came into effect, or the time they started insurable employment if later.
Social insurance paid before 1953 under the National Health Insurance Acts can be taken into account in satisfying the first two conditions but cannot be used in calculating the yearly average.
The whole issue of contribution conditions for social insurance pensions are among the issues being addressed by the National Pensions Board in its final report on a new national pensions system. I expect to receive the board's report by the end of November and the matter will be considered further in that context.
