Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 15 Dec 1998

Vol. 498 No. 4

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

349 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of applications for social welfare payments arising from social insurance contributions made in Britain; if there are delays in making payments arising from computer problems in the British Department of Social Security; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27300/98]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

EU regulations on social security provide for the protection of the social security rights of workers who are or have been employed or self-employed in more than one member state. One of the main ways in which the regulations provide for this protection is through the aggregation of periods of insurance completed in the member states where a person has worked for the purposes of meeting the contribution conditions for entitlement to benefit. All the periods of insurance completed in the other member states are treated as if they were completed in the state where the claim to benefit is made.

To qualify for the short-term benefits, such as unemployment and disability, a claimant must generally have been lastly insured in the state of claim and have sufficient contributions paid or credited over a relatively short period. If they qualify for these benefits, even on the basis of aggregation, the full amount due is paid by the state of last insurance. Many claimants who have previously worked abroad, however, would already have completed sufficient periods of insurance in Ireland after their return to qualify for benefit, without recourse to the periods of insurance completed in the other state(s).

In the case of long-term benefits such as retirement, old age and widowed persons pensions, entitlement is based on periods of insurance completed over a person's career since entry into insurance. Where a person has been insured in more that one member state, each state works out the level of pension payable by it on a pro rata basis.

The nature of the contribution conditions for pensions in Ireland is such that where there is an entitlement under Irish legislation the pension amount is usually higher than the pro rata amount and, therefore, the award of pension can be made without recourse to the periods of insurance in other states.

The highest proportion of claimants in Ireland with periods of insurance in other member states have completed them in the United Kingdom. Procedures for the transfer of insurance records between both states have long been in place and have until recently been working satisfactorily. The UK contribution agency has been developing a new national insurance recording computer system for holding their insurance records, recording new contributions and calculating contributory benefits. The changeover to the new system was scheduled for July 1998 and my Department was advised by the UK Department of Social Security to expect delays in the transfer of records for up to eight weeks after the new system was introduced until it became fully operational.

Unexpected difficulties have arisen with the new system. As a result delays in the transfer of UK records have continued throughout the period since July. On the basis of the latest information received by my Department from the UK Department of Social Security, the delays are expected to continue until early in the new year, at which stage it is expected the problems with the new system will be resolved.

For the reasons given above it is possible, in the case of a significant number of persons who have completed periods of insurance in other member states, to deal with their claims and award benefits and pensions without recourse to details of their periods of insurance in the other state(s). It is estimated, however, that 9,581 contribution records have been requested from the UK to date this year. Of these a significant proportion were processed before the UK developed its new computerised records system. No significant delays have been experienced in the case of recent insurance records requested for short-term benefits purposes. Records prior to 6 April 1975 are also not affected and can still be readily accessed by the UK on the old system.

There are, however, some 1,300 requests for records outstanding in relation to claims for widow's and widower's contributory pensions, retirement pensions and old age contributory pensions. The pensioners concerned have insufficient Irish contributions to qualify for a pension under social welfare legislation alone and thus are eligible only for apro rata pension which requires their UK insurance record. A high proportion of the claimants, up to 60 per cent, reside in the UK.

Officials in my Department have been in regular contact with their counterparts in the UK on the matter and special interim arrangements have been made to minimise delays. Consideration is also being given to ways of speeding up the processing of the backlog of claims which will arise when the difficulties with the UK computerised system are resolved and the outstanding records become available.

In the meantime, claimants resident in this country who are affected are being advised, if they have insufficient means, to claim the corresponding non-contributory payment under social assistance or the supplementary welfare allowance. When the claims for the social insurance benefits are processed, on receipt of the outstanding insurance records from the UK, the full outstanding arrears due will be paid.