Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The way we calculate the contributory State pension is very odd. If a person has 520 contributions, or approximately ten years of contributions, he or she could potentially get a full pension. If a person works for nine years and 11 months, he or she could get nothing. There is an averaging system that is very odd because it works particularly against people who started work early but who have a big gap in contribution records. We should move to a new system with an approach taking in total contributions. That would be similar to how the Deputy's pension or a public service pension is calculated, with a link to the number of years contributed. If a person works for 20 years, he or she would get 20 fortieths and if a person works for 40 years, he or she would get 40 fortieths. It is something like that and it is the way every other contributory pension is calculated. The way we have done the State contributory pension has been very odd for a long period.

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