Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 351: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps being taken to lift the PRSI ceiling. [12803/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Under the PRSI system social insurance contributions are compulsorily payable by employers and employed and self-employed workers. In relation to employee's contributions the amount payable is determined by reference to reckonable earnings in a weekly period, and is subject to a range of thresholds and an annual ceiling. The PRSI exemption on low earnings stands at €352 per week. People with incomes at that level or below are exempt from PRSI. Once a person earns above this level their total income, up to the annual ceiling, is chargeable to PRSI but they are entitled to a PRSI-Free Allowance of €127 per week.

Approximately 76 per cent of workers pay PRSI Class A and Class H at the rate of 4 per cent and accrue entitlement to a range of benefits and pensions under various social insurance schemes. In the 2009 Budget the employee ceiling was increased by €1,300 from €50,700 to €52,000. Any future changes to the PRSI ceiling would have to be considered in a budgetary context.