The report of the working group examining the treatment of married, cohabiting and one-parent families under the tax and social welfare codes, published in August 1999, considered that individualisation of the system could best be achieved through the expansion of social insurance to enable individuals to establish their own direct rights and social welfare entitlements.
With regard to the question of qualifying for social insurance payments, such as disability benefit and invalidity pension, a person must fulfil all the relevant conditions including the social insurance contribution conditions relating to the particular benefit being claimed. Short-term benefits such as the payment of disability benefit for up to a year 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 invalidity pension and the payment of disability benefit beyond a year, the person must have paid a more substantial minimum number of contributions, 260 weeks, in addition to having a recent attachment to the work force. I am satisfied that the current contribution conditions applying to the disability benefit and invalidity pension schemes are reasonable and strike a fair balance between the interests of the average contributor and those of the average beneficiary.
