Written answers

Thursday, 27 September 2007

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Pension Provisions

5:00 pm

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will award credit for pension purposes to carers who have not given up their employment to become a carer but who have cared for a person with special needs over a long period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21286/07]

Photo of Martin CullenMartin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Credited contributions, or 'credits' as they are termed, are intended to protect the entitlements, particularly the pension rights, of employees and other persons participating in the social insurance system when they are ill or unemployed. A person who is providing full time care and attention as a carer is awarded credits on the same basis as if they were out of the workforce due to illness or unemployment.

Under the current statutory provisions governing the award of credited contributions, recipients of the carer's allowance may be awarded credits if they switched to that payment from another credit-bearing payment such as jobseeker's allowance. From April 1999, formal provision was made for the award of credits to claimants of carer's allowance who have left insurable employment to engage in caring duties. People in receipt of carer's benefit or on carer's leave are awarded credits at the same rate as their last paid contribution.

Recipients of carer's allowance, who are not entitled to credits, may be eligible for homemaker's disregards which preserve the carer's entitlement for contributory pension purposes. The homemaker scheme provides that years spent working in the home while caring on a full-time basis for a child up to 12 years of age or an incapacitated person will be disregarded in calculating a person's yearly average number of contributions for State Pension (contributory) purposes. The provisions apply from the contribution year commencing on 6 April 1994 and up to 20 contribution years may be disregarded.

The award of credits is subject to certain conditions. For example, when a person has no paid or credited contributions for a period of two years, they cannot be awarded further credits until a further 26 contributions are paid. In recognition of their caring role, this rule is waived where claimants of carer's allowance were eligible for homemakers disregards immediately prior to claiming carer's allowance.

This, in effect, means that credits will be awarded where a person who has a gap of two years in their paid or credited contributions was eligible for homemakers disregards before claiming carer's allowance. This will protect the position of people who did not give up work to become carers but may have qualified for homemakers disregards due to child-minding duties and who subsequently became carers after a two year period had expired.

From June 2006 the number of hours a person can engage in employment, self employment, education or training outside the home and still be eligible for carer's allowance, carer's benefit and the respite care grant was increased from 10 to 15 hours per week. Where a carer remains in employment he or she will continue to pay the appropriate social insurance contribution.

All aspects of the carer's allowance scheme and supports for carers are kept under review and ways of increasing and expanding services for carers will continue to be examined.

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