Edward Nealon
Ceist:53 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason a person who has been paying PRSI for the self employed, but who has not sufficient payments for a contributory pension on reaching pension age must go through the formalities of applying for a non-contributory old age pension before the 53 per cent pension element of the PRSI contributions are returned to him even when a person knows that he or she has no chance of qualifying for the non-contributory old age pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4037/96]