Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2020
597. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if home carer credits were included when a decision was made to refuse an application for State pension (contributory) by a person (details supplied). [18340/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe person concerned reached pension age on 14 March 2017. They applied for State pension (contributory) on 6 October 2017. Under current eligibility conditions, an applicant must have 520 full-rate paid contributions in order to qualify for State pension (contributory). Credits cannot be used to satisfy this condition. 520 full-rate contributions equate to 10 years of full-rate insurable employment.
The person has a contribution record of 334 paid full-rate social insurance contributions. As their contributions fall short of the required 520 paid full-rate contributions to qualify for State pension (contributory), their claim was disallowed.
The person was notified in writing of this decision on 24 October 2017, and provided with a copy of their social insurance record on which the decision was based. In addition to requesting a review of their pension claim, the person also appealed this pension decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office. An Appeals Officer concluded that the person’s claim had been decided correctly in line with the provisions of social welfare legislation.
A new application for State pension (contributory) was submitted by the person concerned on 25 February 2020. Their application was again disallowed on 5 March 2020 as the 520 contribution condition was not satisfied.
The Homemakers Scheme was introduced on 6 April 1994 . It allows up to 20 years (since 1994) spent caring for children under 12 years of age or for an incapacitated person(s) to be disregarded in calculating a person's yearly average number of contributions and credits, and for homemaker credits to be awarded for homemaking periods of less than a full contribution year.
In January 2018, HomeCaring Periods were introduced as part of the interim total contributions approach (TCA) to the calculation of pension entitlement for those State pension (contributory) customers born on or after 1 September 1946 and thus affected by post-2012 Budget pension rates. The TCA provides for up to 20 years of home caring periods in that pension entitlement calculation for applicants who took time out of the workplace for parenting or caring duties.
Both the Homemaker’s Scheme and HomeCaring Periods are used to improve an applicant’s rate of pension entitlement. They do not alter the qualifying conditions for State pension (contributory) and will not assist any person whose claim was disallowed for failure to fulfil the legislative condition of having a minimum of 520 paid contributions.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
