Invalidity Pension is a social insurance payment provided by my Department to those who cannot work due to an illness or disability and who are covered by social insurance. There is a contributory and a medical condition to determine eligibility for Invalidity Pension.
Regarding the contributory eligibility, employed contributors are insured to different degrees depending on their class of insurance. Contributors insured at Classes A, E, H and S are insured for Invalidity Pension. Most people in industrial, commercial and service-type employment who are employed under a contract of service, with reckonable pay of €38 or more per week from all employments; and civil and public servants recruited from 6 April 1995 pay Class A social insurance. These workers pay a contribution of 4% on their weekly earnings and their employers pay a contribution of 8.8% where employees’ weekly earnings are €441 or less and 11.05% where their employees’ weekly earnings exceed €441. Such contributors have access to the full range of social insurance benefits.
As per Section 119 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act of 2005, in order to qualify for Invalidity Pension, the person must have at least 260 weeks (5 years) of paid PRSI contributions since entering social insurance, and 48 weeks of paid or credited PRSI contributions in the last or second-last complete contribution year before the start of the incapacitating illness or disability. The purpose of the minimum number of contributions required is to ensure a substantial history of attachment to the labour force. The purpose of the required number in recent years is to ensure a recent attachment to the labour force.
Regarding medical eligibility, it is important to note that eligibility for illness and disability payments is generally not dependent on the type of the illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work. In order to qualify the person:
- must have been incapable of work for at least 12 months and be likely to be incapable of work for at least another 12 months, or
- must be permanently incapable of work.
Those who do not qualify for Invalidity Pension may be eligible to apply for Disability Allowance. This is a means-tested income support provided by my Department to those who cannot work due to a disability. Applicants must meet the age, residency and means test criteria along with satisfying the medical requirement for the scheme.
With regard to additional supports, this Department also provides Additional Needs Payments under our Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme to help meet essential expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. This includes exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from a person’s own resources and are deemed to be necessary. The payment is available to anyone who needs it and qualifies, whether the person is currently on a social welfare payment or in employment.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
