To qualify for the old age contributory pension a person must, inter alia, have entered insurance at least ten years before pension age. This condition has been a feature of the scheme since its introduction in 1961. The purpose of the condition is to link entitlement to a pension with a reasonable level of contributions to the social insurance fund during the course of a person's career. This condition applies to all insured people.
Accordingly, self employed people who become insured for the first time when social insurance was extended to the self employed in 1988 and who were then aged 56 or over would not qualify for the old age contributory pension. They are covered for widow's, widower's and orphan's pensions subject, of course, to satisfying the normal qualifying criteria.