Mary Flaherty
Question:40 Miss Flaherty asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will consider allowing women who leave work for childbearing to sign on for voluntary contributions to ensure their economic wellbeing in later life.
Written Answers. - Pension Entitlements.
People who cease to be compulsorily insured under the pay-related social insurance system can become voluntary contributors and pay voluntary contributions to maintain their pension entitlements. In order to become a voluntary contributor, a person must have at least three years PRSI contributions paid and must apply within 12 months of the end of the tax year in which they finish work or receive a credited contribution.
People who claim short term payments such as disability, unemployment or maternity benefits or who receive invalidity or retirement pensions automatically receive credited contributions for each week of their payment which gives cover for pension entitlements.
In 1991 I extended social insurance cover to 27,000 part-time workers, mostly women, who now have cover for pensions in their own right when they retire. Also, in 1988 I brought farmers and the self employed into the social insurance system and this year their spouses and dependants have entitlement for the first time to widows' and orphans' pensions.
I am concerned about the situation of some 500,000 women who work full-time in the home. Under present arrangements, they are not entitled to credited contributions for their period out of the workforce. In many cases voluntary PRSI contributions may not be a practical proposition for them.
I plan to bring forward proposals to redress the pensions situation of people who leave employment to look after a family. These proposals will be developed in the context of the recommendations of the National Pensions Board, whose final report I expect to receive this summer.