Vol. 550 No. 2
415 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if it is open to a self-employed person, whose income from 1988 to 1992 was less than the £2,500 level which conferred a liability for compulsory insurance at Class S, to now pay five years of voluntary contributions in order to qualify for old age pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7627/02]
To be admitted as a voluntary contributor, a person must have at least 156 weeks PRSI paid under compulsory insurance – 260 from April 2002 – in either employment or self-employment. In addition, the person must apply to become a voluntary contributor within 12 months after the end of the contribution year during which they last paid compulsory insurance or during which they were last awarded a credited contribution –"credit". Also, the person must agree to pay voluntary contributions from the start of the contribution week after the week in which they cease compulsory insurance.
There is no provision for a person who reaches pension age without sufficient contributions to retrospectively pay voluntary contributions in order to qualify for a pension at that stage. I have already acknowledged the difficulties of self-employed people who, because of their age when social insurance for the self-employed was introduced in 1988, would have been excluded from pensions because of the rule which requires that a person have started to pay social insurance at least ten years before they reach pension age.
To address these problems, in April 1999 I introduced a special old age (contributory) pension for those self-employed people who were aged 56 or over in April 1988 and who have at least five years contributions paid since then. Payment is at a flat rate of 50% of the standard maximum rate with equivalent increase for adult and child dependants, where applicable.
The rationale behind this five-year paid contribution condition is to ensure that entitlement to a pension is limited to those who have made some reasonable level of contributions to the social insurance fund during the course of their careers.
