Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 367: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo has been told that they can not sign on for credits. [9018/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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To have an entitlement to sign the live register for credited social insurance contributions, a person must previously have worked and paid contributions at the appropriate rate. If at any stage since starting work, a person has no contributions paid or credited for two full consecutive tax years, he or she will not have an entitlement to credited contributions until he or she returns to work and pays appropriate contributions for at least 26 weeks.

My Department's records show that the person concerned had previously paid contributions in the 1999/2000 contribution year. Since then she has only been employed from 6 December 2007 to 18 January 2008. Accordingly, she is not entitled to sign for credited social insurance contributions.