Vol. 495 No. 7
533 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs when he will indicate to the self employed section, that is farmers, that the contributions made by them will allow them to claim like others a contributory pension, even if only at a reduced rate; and if he will indicate that persons who availed of the claim back in recent times, having been refused their claim can again re-enter the scheme on repayment of original contributions. [21384/98]
545 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the steps, if any, he will take to ensure that at least a pro rata pension is paid to farmers and self employed who entered the social insurance scheme in 1986 and who have less than ten annual contributions made; if this will be announced in the forthcoming budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21258/98]
It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 533 and 545 together.
To qualify for the old age contributory pension, a person must, inter alia, have entered insurance at least ten years before pension age. This condition has been a feature of the scheme since its introduction in 1961.
However, a number of self-employed persons, who were aged 56 or over on 6 April 1988, when social insurance was extended to the self-employed, failed to qualify for an old age contributory pension because they could not satisfy the ten year qualifying condition, outlined above.
Prior to the general election last year, in our election manifesto a commitment was made to introduce new arrangements to tackle this problem, and in accordance with this commitment, I have, for the last year, been exploring a number of options to alleviate the difficulties experienced by this group of people.
I have now decided that the most equitable way to address the issue is through the introduction of a pro rata pension for those self-employed who were over the age of 56 in 1988 and who have between five and ten years contributions paid since April 1988.
It is estimated that up to 10,000 people 8,000 pensioners and 2,000 qualified adults will benefit from this measure at an estimated cost of £18 million in a full year. The total estimated cumulative cost of the measure in the future is over £170 million.
