asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will review the social welfare conditions of CIE personnel concerning stamp contributions paid prior to 1953 for superannuation purposes.
Written Answers. - CIE Superannuation Scheme.
269.
The statutory contributions conditions for qualification for old age contributory pension and retirement pensions provide that the person must
(i) have contributions paid at an appropriate rate in respect of at least 156 weeks of insurable employment since his entry into insurance, and
(ii) for retirement pension, have a yearly average of at least 24 contributions or, for old age contributory pension, have a yearly average of at least 20 contributions. This average is calculated over the period from January 1953 or year of entry into insurance, if later, to the end of the contribution year preceding the one in which pension age is reached.
Salaried staff who are covered by CIE's superannuation scheme pay PRSI contributions at a modified rate to provide cover for the widows' and orphans' pension schemes. Such contributions are not reckonable for either old age contributory pension or retirement pension.
There are no proposals at present to change the existing arrangements in these matters.