Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the extent to which he has considered the possibility of offering insurance contribution credits to women working in the home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43197/06]

Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 278: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of recipients from the homemakers scheme who would not have qualified in their own right; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43383/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 278 together.

The social welfare pension rights of those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties are protected by the homemaker's scheme which was introduced from 1994. The scheme allows up to 20 years (from 1994) spent caring for children or incapacitated adults to be disregarded when a person's social insurance record is being averaged for pension purposes.

The scheme will not of itself qualify a person for a pension. The standard qualifying conditions, which require a person to enter insurance 10 years before pension age, pay a minimum of 260 contributions at the appropriate rate and achieve a yearly average of at least 10 contributions from the time they enter insurance until they reach pension age must also be satisfied.

The homemaker's scheme is not yet a significant factor in determining eligibility for social welfare pensions, with relatively few cases involving recourse to the scheme having been decided.

The question of changing the system of disregards to one based on actual credited contributions has been suggested and this will be examined in the context of future developments in pensions policy.