Terence Flanagan
Question:83. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to reinstate the transition pension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17052/14]
View answerThursday, 10 April 2014
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Written answers
The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 provides that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) available at 65, thereby standardising State pension age for all at 66 years. State pension age will increase further to 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028. I have no plans to reinstate the State pension transition.
The State pension (transition) was introduced in 1970 when it was known as the retirement pension. It was designed to bridge the gap between the standard social welfare pension age, which at that time was 70 years of age, and retirement age. Over time, the age for State pension (contributory) pension was reduced to 66 years.
All short term social welfare schemes are payable to age 66. The main social welfare payment available to those who leave employment before pension age is jobseeker’s benefit. Persons who qualify for a jobseeker’s benefit who are aged between 65 and 66 years are generally entitled to receive payment up to the date on which they reach pensionable age (66 years). In the case of a job seeker’s benefit recipient aged under 65 whose claim spans from one benefit year into another, a new relevant tax year requirement is not applied in the case of the job seeker's entitlement relating to the second benefit year. A further provision states that 3 waiting days do not have to be served for jobseeker's assistance in the case of certain people aged between 65 and 66 years who have been in receipt of jobseeker's benefit within the past year.
In addition, I was happy to be able to introduce new arrangements for older job seekers, i.e. those aged 62 and over who have left work before reaching the State pension age of 66 and who wish to claim a jobseeker’s payment. With effect from 1 January 2014, fully unemployed job seekers aged 62 or over will be placed on yearly signing and will be given the option of transferring to EFT payments. Furthermore, they will not be subject to mandatory activation measures but may avail of employment supports which will continue to be available to them and they will not be subject to activation-related sanctions.
Finally, social welfare supports will continue to be available to those who need it most and where a person fails to meet the qualifying conditions of an insurance based scheme, a means tested assistance payment may be available provided they satisfy the qualifying conditions.