Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 December 2004
42 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his estimate of the number of persons who left work due to the marriage bar or otherwise and who, if they had remained at work, would have qualified for the contributory old age pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33508/04]
View answerQuestions in relation to the operation of the marriage bar are a matter for the Department of Finance which has responsibility for the terms and conditions of employment and the pension arrangements for public servants generally.
In general, the social insurance class paid by those affected by the marriage bar was a modified rate which gives coverage for widows or widowers and orphan's pensions and occupational injury benefit only. This reflected their occupational pension position and general contract of service. Accordingly, even if they had continued in employment, contributions paid at this class would only have entitled them to an occupational pension and not one paid under the social welfare system.
In order to qualify for an old age contributory pension, a person must satisfy a number of basic conditions as follows: achieve a yearly average of at least ten contributions paid or credited on their social insurance record from 1953, when the unified system of social insurance came into effect, or the date of entry into insurance, if later; have paid at least 260 contributions at the appropriate rate; and have entered insurance ten years before he or she reached pension age.
The Government is committed to making contributory payments available to as many people as possible and, in this regard, a number of special measures have been taken in recent years to provide pensions for people with deficient insurance records or records comprising a mix of contribution classes. However, a requirement for a certain level of full rate insurance remains an important part of the qualifying conditions for social welfare contributory pensions.
In 1997, the average number of contributions required for pension purposes was reduced from 20 to ten, and in 2000 a special half rate pension was introduced based on pre-1953 insurance contributions. Pro rata pensions are also available to allow people with mixed rate insurance records to receive a payment. These measures are of particular benefit to women who may have less than complete social insurance records.
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 homemaker's scheme, allows for up to 20 years to be disregarded when a person's insurance record is being averaged for pension 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 due for completion in the new year and further development of the homemakers scheme will be examined in the light of the conclusions of the review.
