Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2004
415 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if part-time public sector employees who have been paying PRSI Class A contributions while their full time colleagues have been paying PRSI Class D contributions have been or will be required to pay Class D contributions as a result of changes brought about by the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001. [14488/04]
View answerEmployment protection legislation including the Protection of Employee (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 falls within the policy responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The legislation seeks to implement the provisions of the EU Directive, 97/81/EC which, in effect, established a right for part-time workers to be treated comparably with full-time workers and to enjoy the same conditions of employment in respect of remuneration and related matters including occupational pensions.
The framework agreement upon which the directive is based specifically excludes social security systems from its scope. Accordingly, the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 has no direct implication for the operation of the social insurance system.
The provisions governing social insurance are included in social welfare legislation which is of course the responsibility of my Department. Generally speaking this legislation provides that different categories of employed and self-employed workers are insured for the social welfare benefits and pensions most appropriate to their needs.
Social welfare legislation provides that a person employed in a local or public authority in a permanent position on 5 April 1995 and continues to be so employed, is generally speaking, insurable at the "modified" or PRSI Class D rate of contribution. The modified rate of contribution applies equally to all public servants regardless of whether they work full- time or part-time.
All new public sector employees recruited after 5 April 1995, be they part-time or full-time workers, pay PRSI at Class A providing their earnings are over €38 per week. These contributions can provide entitlement to disability benefits and other payments to which modified contributors are not entitled. The change in PRSI contributions for public servants was introduced on foot of a recommendation of the Commission on Social Welfare and supported by the National Pensions Board, which concluded that this change would support a greater sense of social solidarity within the PRSI system and promote the mobility of employees between the public and private sectors. Following detailed consultation with staff interests, the revised arrangements were brought into operation in April 1995. Since then the number of public servants paying PRSI at modified PRSI of contribution is already declining and Class A social insurance cover will represent the norm throughout the private and public sectors.
