Vol. 448 No. 4
123 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Social Welfare if consideration of the report on granting limited pensions to those with reduced contribution records has yet been completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2321/95]
To qualify for an old age contributory pension a person must have entered insurance at least ten years before reaching pension age, have at least 156 contributions paid and have a yearly average of at least 20 contributions (or 24 in the case of a retirement pension) registered since January 1953 (when the unified system of social insurance came into effect), or the time they started insurable employment, if later.
The yearly average condition gives rise to particular problems for people with gaps in their insurance records. While a number of these problems have been addressed by my Department in recent years, the National Pensions Board (NPB) report recommended a pro-rata pensions scheme which, in their view, would resolve the problems arising from gaps in coverage in a more comprehensive way.
The NPB report recommended, inter alia, a wider range of pro-rata pensions related to the average number of contributions over an insured lifetime, where, for example an average of 45 or over (as against 48 at present) would qualify a person for the maximum rate of pension while a minimum 30 per cent of full rate pension would be payable for an average of ten to 14 contributions. They also recommended that the number of paid contributions to qualify for retirement and old age contributory pension be increased from 156 (three years) to 520 contributions (ten years). As such proposals could lead to a reduction in entitlement for future pensioners, when compared with present arrangements, they have to be evaluated very carefully.
The NPB report, which is both comprehensive and complex, is at present being studied in detail within my Department and I intend to bring forward proposals on the issues addressed as soon as possible.
