Robert Troy
Question:634. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to introduce a measure to allow persons on carer's allowance to pay a stamp while in receipt of same. [43418/18]
View answerTuesday, 23 October 2018
Questions (634)
Written answers
Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or adult who has such a disability that as a result, they require that level of care.
Full-time care and attention is defined as requiring from another person, continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continuous supervision in order to avoid danger to him or herself and likely to require that level of care for at least twelve months.
Persons in receipt of carers allowance can qualify for credits where they have previously entered insurable employment and paid at least one PRSI contribution at Class A, B, C, D, E, H or P and where they have had a recent attachment to the workforce.
Credited contributions (credits) are social insurance contributions designed to protect the social insurance entitlement record of insured workers who are not in a position to make PRSI contributions.
Credits are awarded in circumstances such as unemployment or illness, and their purpose is to help protect the social insurance entitlements of insured persons during periods when they may not be in a position to pay contributions.
In order to qualify for credits, a person must first have entered insurable employment - he or she must have paid at least one PRSI contribution at Class A, B, C, D, E, H or P.
In general credits can only be awarded where an individual has had a recent attachment to the workforce i.e. within the last 2 years.
The Voluntary Contribution Scheme allows those who are no longer working or who otherwise are not paying PRSI, including carers, to protect their PRSI entitlement to certain social insurance benefits, including state pension. A person can apply to join the scheme from 1 year to 5 years from the end of the year in which contributions were last paid, as an employee or as a self-employed worker.
Voluntary Contributions (VCs) are designed to facilitate employees and self-employed individuals, who are no longer paying PRSI, to pay contributions directly to the Department on a voluntary basis, to protect their future state pension contributory, widow(er)’s contributory pension and guardian’s contributory pension entitlements.
The scheme is most frequently used by employees who have retired early, or by self-employed individuals who are not required to pay PRSI Class S because their annual income falls below the annual €5,000 liability threshold. To become a voluntary contributor an individual must have paid at least 520 weeks of compulsory PRSI from either employment or self-employment prior to application.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.