Vol. 543 No. 2
579 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the arrangements for mutual recognition of social insurance contributions paid in Ireland and in Australia in order that they could be combined to establish entitlements to an Irish pension. [25889/01]
A bilateral agreement with Australia was signed on 8 April 1991 and came into effect under Irish legislation on 1 April 1992. The agreement provides for the aggregation of Irish and Australian records for the purposes of the following Irish benefits: old age contributory pension; retirement pension; widow's and widower's contributory pension; orphan's contributory allowance; invalidity pension and bereavement grant. Periods of residence in Australia which are reckonable for the purposes of Australian pension entitlement may be counted as periods of contribution under Irish legislation where this is necessary to create an entitlement to benefit for a person who has also been insured under Irish legislation.
The claim for the relevant benefit or pension should be sent to the appropriate office of my Department if the person is residing in Ireland, or to the appropriate office of the Australian Department of Family and Community Services if resident in Australia. The two Departments will communicate with each other to ensure that entitlements under both systems are fully examined. Where a person does not have sufficient Irish contributions to qualify for benefit or pension under Irish legislation, qualifying periods of residence in Australia are treated as periods of contribution under Irish legislation and a proportion of the resulting entitlement is awarded according to the proportion the Irish contributions bear to the combined total. This is referred to as a pro-rata pension. Pro-rata pensions require a minimum of one paid and 52 reckonable, that is, paid or credited, contributions under Irish legislation.
Where a person is entitled to benefit or pension under either scheme without having to include the period of residence or insurance in the other country, that entitlement is paid in full. This could result in a person having a stand-alone entitlement under both legislation, a pro-rata entitlement under both legislation, or a stand-alone entitlement under one and a pro-rata entitlement under the other.
Further details with information on how to apply for a relevant benefit or pension are contained in Leaflet SW 87, which may be obtained from any office of my Department or on the Department's website at www.welfare.ie and I am arranging for a copy to be sent to the Deputy.
