Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason she will not inquire into a person's British national insurance record to determine a pension entitlement in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [46079/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Medical Appliance Benefit Scheme provides assistance towards the cost of a hearing aid. The Department will pay up to half the cost of a hearing aid or repairs to a hearing aid, subject to a fixed maximum contribution of €760 per aid.

To qualify for Medical Appliance Benefit you must satisfy certain PRSI conditions. A person aged 66 or over must have a total of 260 paid PRSI contributions since first starting work and either (i) 39 paid or credited PRSI contributions in either of the two relevant tax years on which the claim is based OR (ii) 26 paid PRSI contributions in both the relevant tax year and the tax year immediately before the relevant tax year. If you satisfy the PRSI conditions when you reach age 60, you will remain qualified for life.

As per the records of the Department, the person concerned has no post-1953 PRSI contributions and so does not qualify for Medical Appliance Benefit. A pre-1953 record is not sufficient on its own to qualify for this scheme; the person concerned would also need to have made Irish contributions within two years of their 60th birthday or retirement at age 66 years.

Neither can their UK insurance record be counted, as they did not pay PRSI in Ireland following their return from the UK. In these circumstances, the UK remains the competent state for insurance based benefits and the person concerned may have an entitlement in the UK, as this was the last country in which they paid PRSI contributions.

The person concerned may have an entitlement in Ireland under the Medical Card scheme. Any queries in this regard should be directed to the Department of Health and Children.