Vol. 567 No. 1
100 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her proposals in relation to the provision of a full contributory pension for many older women who spent long periods out of the workforce on home caring duties. [13522/03]
The Government is committed to extending social insurance pension cover to as many categories as possible. In this regard a number of measures have been introduced in recent years which are making it easier for people to qualify for pensions. These measures are of particular benefit to women who may have less than complete social insurance records. In 1997, the average number of contributions required for pension purposes was reduced to ten and, in 2000, a special half rate pension was introduced based on pre-53 insurance contributions. Pro-rata pensions were also introduced to allow people with mixed rate insurance records to receive a payment.
The Government is also committed to increasing the payment for qualified adults who are aged 66 or over to the same level as the personal rate of the old age non-contributory pension. This process commenced in budget 2000 and a number of special increases have been granted since then. The rate of the qualified allowance on the contributory pension now stands at €121.50 per week which is about 84% of the maximum rate of the non-contributory pension. New applicants for pensions can now apply to have the qualified adult allowance paid directly to their spouse or partner. This facility has been available since October 2002.
Measures are also in place since 1994 to protect the pension entitlements of those who take time out of the paid workforce for caring duties. This scheme, known as the homemakers scheme, allows for up to 20 years to be disregarded when a persons insurance record is being averaged for pensions purposes. The scheme is being reviewed as part of the second phase review of the qualifying conditions for the old age contributory and retirement pensions. The review is almost completed and further development of the homemakers scheme will be considered in the light of the conclusions of the review.
