Vol. 472 No. 2
41 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether a person (details supplied) in County Galway will be entitled to a contributory old age pension at 66 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22546/96]
To qualify for old age contributory pension, the person concerned must have entered insurance at least ten years before pension age. This condition has been a feature of the scheme since its introduction in 1961. The purpose of the condition is to link entitlement to a pension with a reasonable level of contributions to the social insurance fund during a person's career. This condition applies to all insured people, self-employed or otherwise.
According to the Department's records, the person concerned became insured for the first time when social insurance was extended to the self-employed in 1988. He was then aged 57. As a result, he will not qualify for old age contributory pension under the current legislation when he reaches pension age of 66 years in 1997. The Department will formally assess his eligibility for either a contributory or a non-contributory old age pension about three months before his 66th birthday in late 1997. If he does not qualify for either type of pension, he can apply for a refund of the old age contributory pension element of his PRSI contributions.
The National Pensions Board, in its final report Developing the National Pension System, put forward a number of recommendations relating to eligibility for old age pensions. These include proposals for a wider scale of pro rata pensions related to a lower average number of contributions over an insurer's lifetime. However, it also recommended that the minimum number of paid social insurance contributions to qualify for an old age contributory pension be increased from the current level of 156 (three years) to 520 (ten years) contributions. This report and its many recommendations are being studied within my Department at present. I intend to bring forward proposals in due course on the issues addressed by the National Pensions Board, particularly relating to the question of pro rata pensions.
43 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the delay in issuing payments under the back-to-work allowance scheme is causing considerable hardship and problems, resulting in fewer jobs being created than was envisaged when the scheme was introduced; and the steps, if any, he is taking to rectify this problem. [20275/96]
The back to work allowance was introduced in September 1993 as part of my Department's programme of initiatives designed to encourage the long-term unemployed to return to the active labour force. The scheme has proved to be a very worthwhile initiative with close to 15,000 persons currently in receipt of the weekly allowance and I expect that this number will have increased to around 16,000 by the end of the year.
There has been an increase in the number of applications in recent weeks. An average of over 300 claims a week have been received over the past six weeks, an increase of 50 per cent over the previous six week period. Measures have been taken to deal with the extra claimload and it is expected that the backlog will be eliminated over the next few weeks.
44 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to extend the family income supplement scheme to include the self-employed. [21537/96]
78 Mr. Nolan asked the Minister for Social Welfare the plans, if any, he has to extend the family income supplement scheme to include the self-employed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22289/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 78 together.
Family income supplement (FIS) is currently available to employees on low earnings with children. This year I introduced a significant number of improvements to FIS, including an increase of £10 in the weekly income limits used to determine entitlement, thereby ensuring that most recipients received an increase of £6 per week. Other improvements in FIS introduced this year include a reduction, from six to three months, in the minimum period which the employment is expected to last; a reduction in the number of hours which must be worked in order to qualify for FIS, from 20 hours per week to 38 hours per fortnight; the extension of FIS to jobsharers and increasing the rate of FIS payable on the birth of a child, rather than awaiting the annual review of entitlement.
Self-employed people whose income falls below the rate of unemployment assistance (UA) appropriate to their family circumstances are entitled to claim UA. The rate of UA payable depends on the person's means. In assessing means, account is taken of the net income which the applicant may reasonably expect to receive in the next year.
