In general, pay related social insurance contributions are made by employers, employees and the self employed. The rate of PRSI contribution depends on the class of social insurance applicable which, in turn, determines the range of benefits and pensions to which contributors may, in due course, become entitled.
The social insurance system has developed and improved over the years. In recent years changes have included the extension of "partial" social insurance to the self employed in 1988 and of full cover to part time workers in 1991 and new civil and public servants in 1995.
Historically, public servants were excluded from full social insurance cover. This arose as it was viewed that such employees had provision within the terms and conditions of their employments for adequate cover for contingencies such as sickness or old age and that the risk of unemployment was not a factor in their case.
In 1994 the Government announced that full rate PRSI would be extended to employees in the public sector generally and that staff interests would be fully consulted in this regard.
Following detailed and extensive consultation with the staff interests involved, the revised system was brought into operation from April 1995. However, it only applied to new entrants to the public service who are now liable for full Class A PRSI contributions. There are no plans at present for a further review of the PRSI position of civil and public servants.
The qualifying conditions for old age contributory and retirement pensions are at present being reviewed. The first phase of the review was published in August this year and, amongst other things, recommended a switch to a system of assessment based on the total number of contributions paid rather than the average contribution test which currently applies. This will be examined in more detail in the next phase of the review which will get under way in the new year.
There are no plans to award pensions to public servants along the lines suggested by the Deputy. That said, a number of measures introduced in recent years have made contributory pensions more accessible to those with mixed or reduced insurance records. These measures include the introduction of pro rata pensions, a reduction in the average number of contributions required to ten and, more recently, the introduction of reduced pensions based on pre-1953 insurance. Former public servants are one of the groups benefiting from these measures.
