Vol. 548 No. 2
331 Mr. B. Hayes asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will provide a derogation for those born between January and April 1936 or 1937 in terms of assessing their yearly average contributions; if he can assess the small group of persons who are affected by this anomaly; his plans to deal with this issue in the upcoming social welfare Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4339/02]
To qualify for an old age contributory pension a person must satisfy a number of basic conditions, one of which is that they must have a yearly average of at least ten contributions paid or credited from 1953, when the unified system of social insurance came into effect, or the date of entry into social insurance, if later. A yearly average of 48 contributions is required for a full rate pension with reduced pensions payable for those with yearly averages of between ten and 47 contributions. In the case of retirement pension a yearly average of 24 contributions is required for a minimum pension.
The yearly average is calculated by dividing the number of contributions recorded over the period from the start of the year of entry into insurance up to the end of the last full contribution year before reaching pension age by the number of contribution years in this period. The alignment of the contribution year with the calendar year does mean that those born between the dates in question will have their contribution record for pension purposes averaged over an additional year.
However, those who made contributions in the transitional year from April 2001 to December 2001 will receive an additional 14 contributions to take account of the shortened contribution year. The operation of the new arrangements will be monitored with a view to identifying any problems which may arise.
