Vol. 451 No. 4
73 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person (details supplied) was not granted an old age pension or refunded his PRSI contributions in view of the fact that he had made PRSI contributions in the period 1942 to 1946; the proposals if any, he has to make a refund to this person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6670/95]
To qualify for an old age contributory pension, a person must, inter alia, have entered insurance at least ten years before pension age, must have at least 156 contributions paid and must have a yearly average of not less than 20 contributions paid or credited from 1953, or from the date of entry into insurance, whichever is the later, up to the end of the last complete contribution year before reaching pension age.
The person concerned entered insurance for the first time under the National Health Acts in 1942 and paid contributions for four years. He re-entered social insurance when the PRSI scheme was extended to the self-employed in 1988 and paid contributions until he reached age 66 in March 1991.
He did not satisfy any of the qualifying conditions on the basis of his record as a self-employed person. His earlier record was, in the circumstances, taken into account. This had the effect of satisfying the first two conditions mentioned. It also meant that the period over which his yearly average was calculated was 1953 to 1990. The records of my Department show that he had a total of 155 contributions in that period which is equivalent to a yearly average of only four. This is not sufficient to qualify him for an old age contributory pension.
An application form for non-contributory old age pension was issued to him on 28 March 1995. On receipt of an application his entitlement to a non-contributory pension will be examined and he will be notified of the outcome without delay.
