Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Question 459: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his proposals to modify the pay-related social insurance system to enable class D contributions to be taken into account for a reduced old age pension. [10400/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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PRSI Class D, provides social insurance coverage for permanent and pensionable employees in the public and civil service who were recruited prior to 6 April 1995. Historically, most public servants did not pay full social insurance cover as their occupational pension arrangements were different from people outside the Civil Service and public service. Public servants employed after April 1995, however, pay full rate insurance contributions and their occupational pension arrangements have been adjusted to reflect this.

The basic qualifying conditions for contributory pensions have been eased considerably, in recent years, pensions based on pre-1953 insurance have been introduced, and arrangements made to ensure that people with a mixture of insurance at full and modified rates may qualify for pro rata pensions based on the percentage of full rate contributions in their overall insurance record. Measures such as these can only be implemented in a context where people achieve a minimum standard of contributions, both in terms of the number and type of contributions paid.

Some 133,000 people are insured in the three main modified insurance classes. In addition, there are some 88,000 public service pensioners, in addition to those from the semi-State sector, who were modified rate contributors during their working lives. Accordingly, proposals to allow Class D contributors to qualify for a state pension would have very costly and long-running implications for the social welfare pension system. There are no plans at present for further easing of the pension entitlement conditions.