Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 November 2021
607. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 73 of 6 October 2021, if her attention has been drawn to the fact that this is not a justification for denying the application of the March 2018 changes to the scheme to all pensioners who have in excess of 2,080 contributions. [52772/21]
View answerThe introduction of the interim Total Contributions Approach as announced in January 2018 was designed to address a situation where some pensioners were negatively affected by the changes announced to rate bands and payment rates in Budget 2012 and this specific purpose was made clear at the time.
People whose pensions were decided under the 2000-2012 ratebands (i.e., those born before 1 September 1946) were subject to a significantly more generous payment regime than those who qualified before or afterwards, as a Yearly Average of only 20 contributions per year (out of a maximum of 52) could attract a 98% pension.
If pre-2012 pensioners were also allowed avail of the interim Total Contributions Approach, their arrangements, as a group, would continue to be significantly more generous than those of post-2012 pensioners.
My Department’s Actuary estimates that the full cost of implementing such a policy change, including back-dating of increases to the date of retirement and increased payments in the future, would be over €1 billion. Even if the back-dating of increases were to be restricted to the years after 2012, the cost would be over €700 million.
I hope this clarifies the matter.
