Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 1157: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the plans he has to allow persons to continue to work and pay PRSI pension contributions beyond pension age to gain eligibility for an old age contributory pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1388/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Since taking Office this Government has made the needs of older people a priority and the commitment to ensure that as many people as possible can qualify for contributory pensions is at the core of this policy. In this context, changes have been made to the qualifying conditions for pensions which make it easier for people to qualify for pensions. These include the reduction in the yearly average number of contributions required for pension purposes from 20 to 10 and the introduction of pro-rata pensions and a number of special half-rate pensions for those who had marginally failed to qualify for contributory pensions.

I consider it important that those who wish to continue in employment after normal retirement age should, as far as is possible, be facilitated and supported. Longer working can play an important role in ensuring that our pensions system is sustainable in the future and can be beneficial to the individual. For this reason, and to improve income support for older people, the new enhanced State pension (non-contributory) for those over 66 years, which I introduced at the end of September 2006, featured an employment earnings disregard incentive of €100 per week for those who wish to earn extra income to continue in employment. I was happy to enhance this incentive to €200 per week in Budget 2007.

In a wider context, the National Pensions Review, published in January 2006, includes recommendations from the Pensions Board designed to encourage people to continue working after normal retirement age. The measures suggested involve allowing people to defer receiving their social welfare pension at normal pension age and to grant them an actuarially enhanced payment when they claim. The Pensions Board also considered that if this was combined with allowing those with less than full entitlements to count contributions made after age 65 or 66 in order to improve their contribution record, this would complete the incentives for longer working within the social welfare pensions system. I am in broad agreement with the suggestions and will be seeking to have them introduced as soon as is practical.

However, issues surrounding social welfare payments represent only one aspect of the problem. As I have said before, we require a change in attitudes in relation to longer working from both employers and employees. Employers must seek to retain older employees and create the conditions which will make longer working both attractive and feasible for older workers.

With regard to pensions generally, the Government is committed to producing a Green Paper on pensions as part of the new social partnership agreement Towards 2016 with a view to developing a framework for future pensions policy. This will include an examination of the issues surrounding retirement age and the barriers faced by older workers who wish to remain in employment. It is expected that the Green Paper will be published by the end of March. A consultation process will then take place and the Government will subsequently publish a framework for future pensions policy.