Vol. 520 No. 1
51 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will introduce a regime which would take into consideration the overall contribution record of an applicant for disability benefit rather than the present system where only the contributions for the previous year are taken into account; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15098/00]
To qualify for a social insurance payment, a person must fulfil all the relevant conditions including the social insurance contribution conditions relating to the particular benefit being claimed. These contribution rules aim to preserve a fair balance between average contributions and average benefits.
Two underlying principles are reflected in the setting of equitable contribution conditions for entitlement.
The first is that the claimants' record of contributions should be sufficient in terms both of initial establishment in the scheme and of consistency over a period of time. The second is that there should be a difference according to whether a person is claiming a short-term or a long-term benefit. In the case of the latter, where a person will be drawing heavily on the resources of the social insurance funds, it is considered appropriate that the tests should be more stringent.
Accordingly, short-term benefits such as disability benefit and unemployment benefit, require the claimant to have paid a minimum number of contributions, 39 weeks, and to demonstrate a recent attachment to the workforce by having a minimum number of contributions in a recent tax year. For long-term benefits, such as the old age contributory and retirement pensions, the person must have paid a more substantial minimum number of contributions, 156 weeks, and must also have a prescribed yearly average over their working lives.
Under social insurance provisions, temporary periods of absence from the workforce in the case of illness, unemployment, maternity leave, parental leave, etc. are catered for through the provision of credited contributions for the duration of these periods. Credited contributions have the effect of preserving a person's existing entitlements during such periods of absence from the workforce.
