Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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86. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of former An Post employees whose initial applications for pensions were refused in each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51086/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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There are major problems with pensions at the moment. People have to fight for their pensions. Aer Lingus pensioners come to me who are still not being paid their full pensions. Pensioners come to me who say that 70,000 of them have received letters stating they may have been overpaid on their pensions. They are living in fear about that. This question relates to An Post pensioners who have been left in limbo about their pension rights. A High Court case is coming up, which seems like it is looking to deny them the income they should have as pensioners. How many pensioners are in that situation? When will it be resolved?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The contributory State pension is funded by contributions paid into the Social Insurance Fund. In general, people will qualify for the contributory State pension if they are aged 66 or over and have between 520 and 2080, or more, reckonable contributions, of which 520 must be full-rate pay related social insurance, PRSI, contributions. There are no issues relating to An Post employees who meet the qualifying conditions for the contributory State pension.

Contributions paid at class B, C or D, that is, those made by public servants recruited before 6 April 1995, are known as modified or reduced-rate contributions. They are not qualifying contributions for the contributory State pension. This is because those contributors pay less in social insurance contributions in return for fewer social insurance benefits. For example, class D contributors currently pay a contribution at the rate of 1% on their weekly earnings up to €1,443 and 4.1% on weekly earnings above that amount. Their employers pay a contribution of 2.45% on all employee earnings. In contrast, class A contributors pay a contribution of 4.1% on their weekly earnings. Their employers pay a contribution of 8.9% where employees' weekly earnings are €527 or less, and 11.15% where employees' weekly earnings exceed €527. Class A contributors have access to the full range of social insurance benefits.

Given that social insurance contributions are paid over people's working lifetime, during which time they may have had multiple, and in some case overlapping, employments, been awarded credited or attributed contributions or paid for voluntary contributions, it is difficult to associate entitlement to a benefit with employment with a particular employer. This information is also not required to assess eligibility for a pension. The Department does not therefore categorise or record applications for the State pension by prior employer name, which is the information the Deputy is looking for.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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A pensioner came into my office recently who was one of six workers who started work on 25 July 1994. The rule, which the Minister mentioned, was that anyone who started before 6 April 1995 and worked on a continuous basis in an established position should be on class D PRSI contributions. The State made its decision. The scope section of the Department agreed with the decision. The class D contribution means people were entitled to retire at 60 and receive the full State pension. However, an appeal was made by An Post. Let us think about this. These are workers who committed their lives to the service of An Post. They paid a rate of PRSI which means they are entitled to a decent standard of pension on retirement and a semi-State company is in court fighting this decision. As a result, these pension entitlements are in limbo. The pensioners cannot find out what their entitlements are because of an outstanding court case brought by An Post. How come the Department cannot work out their entitlements? Why are they the subject of a court case? Will the Minister seek to resolve the matter as soon as possible?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I cannot comment on a court case, as the Deputy will understand. An Post operational matters are a matter for An Post and the relevant Minister. I have gone through the reasons we do not keep this information in the Department and how difficult it is to categorise or record applications for State pensions by prior employer name. However, if the Deputy wants to contact me later with a specific request that was not apparent in the question, I will try to address it. I want to be helpful, but I cannot get involved in an ongoing court case. However, I do want to be helpful to the Deputy and his constituent.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I am happy to share any information I have about the constituent, but the question on the Order Paper asks how many pensioners are in a similar situation. This is not a criminal case that An Post is involved in, so I do not see why the Minister cannot give a view about the entitlement and rights of a pensioner. I know of at least 30 pensioners who are in a similar situation to this pensioner. It is my understanding that it might be the case throughout elements of the public service. Perhaps people who are employed by local authorities could be in a situation where there is confusion about what pension entitlement they have. This is a serious situation. For example, as part of the court case, papers have been requested from An Post to help the case and An Post is refusing to provide the papers, which is slowing down the case.

These workers - men and women - are getting older. This is a live situation that has to be resolved. It cannot be allowed to meander and languish in the High Court for years.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I have outlined the position regarding that information. The Department does not categorise or record applications for State pensions by prior employer name. Issues relating to An Post are a matter for the Minister for communications, who has political responsibility. It is our role in the Department to lay down the rules, set out how it can be done and make payments in relation to pensions. It is a role we take very seriously, but specific issues as to how companies deal with their employees are a matter for individual companies. I am happy to try and pursue this further for the Deputy, but, equally, whether it is criminal or civil in nature, it is not the role of the Oireachtas to get involved in a court case.