Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Senator will have to take the matter up with the Minister for Finance when he attends here to debate the Finance Bill because he made the proposal. He stated it in the budget announcements of December 2012 which we are carrying into the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill because it affects PRSI.

My understanding of previous responses made by the Minister is as follows. Almost everybody who is subject to PRSI under the section has other sources of income or occupation and, therefore, have an entitlement to PRSI benefits. As Members of the House will know, there is only one other class of people who, by and large, do not qualify. Additional contributions made, for instance, by officeholders in the Dáil and Seanad do not qualify for additional benefits either.