Vol. 489 No. 6
545 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans, if any, he has to allow PRSI contributors who had not been paying PRSI contributions before the age of 65 to qualify for the contributory old age pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8683/98]
The condition that a person must have entered insurance at least ten years before pension age, before he or she is eligible to qualify for the old age contributory pension (which is payable from age 66), has been a feature of the scheme since it was introduced in 1961. The purpose of this condition is to ensure that entitlement to the pension is limited to those who have made a reasonable level of contributions to the social insurance fund during the course of their careers. This ten year condition was supported by the National Pensions Board and it is considered to be a reasonable condition.
Any person who has contributed and does not qualify for either a contributory or a non-contributory pension receives a refund of the pension element (53 per cent) of his/her PRSI contributions with interest.
