Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

On a point of information, may I make an observation that might be of benefit to the Minister? Under the social welfare code for persons applying for a contributory pension where there has been an established partnership arrangement, people are allowed to retrospectively pay the appropriate PRSI contribution to qualify. Given the predicament in which many of these young, now unemployed people, many with families, find themselves, maybe some element of discretion could be built into their entitlement to a jobseeker's benefit if they paid arrears of social welfare class A PRSI. They are a particularly vulnerable group of people with considerable financial commitments and are finding the going very difficult with little prospect of employment given their low skill base or semi-skilled position and the demise of the construction sector.

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