Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 192: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amount of revenue that would be collected from the removal of the employee's PRSI threshold of €127 per week; the amount of revenue that would be collected from the removal of the employee's PRSI ceiling; the amount of revenue that would be collected from a 1% increase in the 10.75% rate of employer's PRSI; the amount of revenue that would be collected from a 1% increase in the 8.5% rate of employer's PRSI; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41170/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The most recent estimates indicate that:

The abolition of the €127 PRSI-Free Allowance for Class A contributors would yield some €350 million additional contribution income in a full year.

An increase of 1% in the employers PRSI rate for Class A contributors is estimated to yield some €482 million additional contribution income in a full year.

The abolition of the PRSI ceiling would yield some €119.5 million additional contribution income in a full year.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 193: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the estimated cost of extending PRSI benefits available to class A contributors to PRSI contributors at all classes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41189/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Workers are insured under the Social Welfare Acts as either employed or self-employed contributors. All workers, both employed and self-employed, are obliged to pay PRSI contributions as a percentage of their personal reckonable income.

PRSI Class A is the standard class paid by the majority of employees. In addition to Class A there are a range of other classes for different categories of workers. A system of separate arrangements for different groups of workers within a social insurance context is common in other European social protection systems. The range of benefits and pensions to which different groups of workers may establish entitlement reflects the risks associated with the nature of their work. This in turn reflects the rate of contribution payable. For example, self-employed persons aged between 16 and 66 years are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 3% and are consequently eligible for a narrower range of benefits than general employees who, together with their employers, pay a total social insurance contribution of 14.05%, excluding levies, under the full-rate PRSI Class A.

Extending Class A coverage to all other contributors would necessarily involve increasing the numbers of recipients across a range of schemes. As those currently not paying Class A have a narrower range of social welfare entitlement, such persons may not, in general, claim a range of benefits, such as Illness Benefit, Occupational Injury Benefit, Invalidity Pension or Jobseeker's Benefit. Accordingly, relevant information as to incidence of such contingencies among those with a narrower range of entitlement is not available. In these circumstances, it is not possible to estimate the cost of extending full Class A coverage to these groups.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 194: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons paying PRSI according to class; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41190/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The following table provides data on the total number of contributors to the Social Insurance Fund together with a breakdown of this figure by PRSI Class type. The figures for 2007 represent the most recent end-of-year returns received by the Department from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners for both employees and self-employed contributors. A breakdown of the 2008 figures will be published in the "Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services 2009" report next year.