Pre-entry credits are awarded when a person takes up insurable employment for the first time and pays a full rate PRSI contribution (excluding contributions paid at class B, C, D, J and S).
Pre-entry credits are awarded from the beginning of the relevant contribution year up to the date of commencement of that employment. Pre-entry credits in the year the employment commenced can be taken into account when assessing entitlements for State Pension (Contributory).
Pre-entry credits are also awarded for the previous two contribution years prior to commencement of employment. These pre-entry credits can only be used for short-term benefits and cannot be used for State Pension (Contributory) purposes.
If pre-entry credits are not present on a record when an application is made for State Pension (Contributory), then they are awarded at that stage by officers in my Department. This process for awarding pre-entry credits applies to records beginning both prior to and after 06/04/1979.
A person's entire record is taken into account when calculating entitlements to pension whether they were recorded under the old Insurance Number system prior to 1979 or under RSI or PPS Numbers after 1979. Where an additional insurance number is located, that number and any contributions recorded under it are associated with the current PPSN.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
