The introduction of the pre-1953 pension as it is called, has been one of the best developments in pension provisions in recent years and I am proud to have been able to introduce it. It has enabled people who paid social insurance contributions before 1953 and who would otherwise not have obtained benefit from them in pension terms, to qualify for an old age contributory pension.
The success of the scheme is illustrated by the numbers applying and the numbers qualifying. The initial expectation was that around 3,000 people would qualify for payment. Since its introduction, however, my Department has received 23,000 applications for this pension. Of the 13,000 claims that have been decided so far, 8,300 or 65% have been awarded a pre-1953 pension and are in receipt of payment. Apart from new applicants the initiative has also benefited a further 8,500 people who had already been in receipt of a pro rata old age contributory or retirement pension at a lower weekly personal rate but who, with the benefit of their pre-1953 contributions, were able to qualify for a higher rate.
In total, therefore, 16,800 people have benefited from the pre-1953 pension to date and are currently in receipt of payment. This number will grow as the remaining applications are processed. There are currently 10,000 cases in various stages of processing. The people concerned have been advised of the unavoidable delay in processing their applications. When I introduced the scheme I was aware that the processing of claims would be slow, given the lapse of time since the employment which gave rise to the contributions and the difficulties of tracing old insurance numbers and contribution records.
The majority of the records which require examination to determine entitlement date back to more than 50 years ago and pre-date computerisation. I could have reduced the delay by deferring the operative date for the provision but I decided against this on the basis that those affected should benefit from the provision as soon as possible.
Additional resources have been deployed to process pre-53 pension claims as quickly as possible. The staff assigned to this project are taking great care to ensure that applications are not being refused wrongly because of any shortcomings in regard to the old records held. The position is being kept under constant review and steps to further improve the situation will be taken as circumstances and demands on other fronts permit. Due to the way the pre-1953 pension project was set up, it is not possible to say what the average processing time is for claims under the scheme. However, the target is to clear all claims by the first quarter of 2002. This will depend on the number of new applications received in the meantime.
I assure the Deputy that delays in processing applications will not result in any losses to pensioners and those who qualify for payment will have their claims back dated fully in accordance with the normal provisions.