Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2022
151. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social Protection her Department’s strategy to ensure that foster parents can include time spent caring as part of their social insurance record for the State pension (contributory); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24682/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMatters related to foster caring are the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and Tusla.
More widely, this Government acknowledges the important role that carers play and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, the current State Pension (Contributory) system includes a range of measures including PRSI credits, Homemaking Disregards and HomeCaring Periods to recognise caring periods outside of paid employment in the calculation of a State Pension payment. Details of these are:
- PRSI Credits are awarded to recipients of the Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit where they have an underlying entitlement to credits. Credits are also awarded to workers who take unpaid Carer’s Leave from work.
- The Homemaker’s Scheme is designed to help homemakers and carers qualify for a higher payment rate of State Pension (Contributory). The scheme, which allows periods caring for children or people with a caring need to be disregarded (from 1994), can have the effect of increasing a person's Yearly Average. A homemaker, under the Homemaker’s Scheme, is a person who provides full-time care for either:
- a child under 12; or
- an ill or disabled person aged 12 or over.
- HomeCaring Periods may be awarded for each week not already covered by a paid or credited social insurance contribution (regardless of when they occurred) to a maximum of 20 years. Only one person can benefit from a HomeCaring Period for supporting a child or adult at one time. HomeCaring Periods can only be used under the Interim Total Contributions Approach (also known as the Aggregated Contribution Method) of pension calculation. HomeCaring Periods relate to full-time care for:
- a child or children under the age of 12 years of age;
- a child or children over the age of 12 who needed an increased level of care; or
- an adult who needed an increased level of care.
Foster carers are entitled to the benefits of the Homemaker’s Scheme or HomeCaring Periods, on the same basis as other carers, and will qualify if the carer is in receipt of Child Benefit. If the foster carer is not in receipt of Child Benefit, s/he can still qualify for the Homemaker’s Scheme or HomeCaring Periods provided the caring periods are confirmed by Tusla.
Since April 2019, all new State Pension (Contributory) applications are assessed under all possible payment rate calculation methods, including the Yearly Average and the Interim Total Contributions Approach, with the most beneficial rate paid to the pensioner. The Homemaker's Scheme and HomeCaring Periods Scheme cannot be used together to calculate State Pension (Contributory) entitlement. The elements which make up each method are set out in legislation.
The Programme for Government “Our Shared Future” includes a commitment to examine options for a pension solution for carers, the majority of whom are women, particularly those of incapacitated children, in recognition of the enormous value of the work carried out by them. The Pensions Commission was established in November 2020 to examine the sustainability of the State Pension system and the Social Insurance Fund. The Commission’s terms of reference included consideration of how people who have provided long-term care for incapacitated dependants can be accommodated within the State Pension system.
The Pensions Commission’s Report was published on 7th October 2021. It established that the current State Pension system is not sustainable into the future and that changes are needed. The report set out a wide-range of recommendations, including enhanced pension provision for long-term carers. It recommended that long-term carers (defined as caring for more than 20 years) should be given access to the State Pension (Contributory) by having retrospective contributions paid for them by the Exchequer for any gaps in their contribution history arising from that caring. The Commission also recommended that relevant Departments should examine, in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, options for the creation of a statutory "Family Carer Register" which could, in time, facilitate the identification of long-term carers for State Pension (Contributory) purposes as well as assisting in the planning and delivery of services for family carers.
In the interests both of older people and future generations of older people, the Government intends to consider the comprehensive and far reaching recommendations in the Pensions Commission’s Report very carefully and holistically. My officials are examining each of the recommendations and consulting across Government through the Cabinet Committee system. The views of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands and the Commission on Taxation and Welfare will be considered as part of the Government's deliberations. I intend bringing a recommended response and implementation plan to Government in the coming weeks.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
