Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding entitlement to contributory old age pension on the basis of the existence of a presumed partnership arising from major participation by the surviving spouse in the original family business or enterprise; the number of such cases currently before his Department awaiting a decision; the number of such applications made to date; and the numbers granted or refused [15485/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Spouses who are actively engaged in a commercial partnership, including the operation of a farm, as opposed to simply being the joint owners of a property, are treated as individual self-employed contributors and are thus liable to pay social insurance contributions.

On foot of a Programme for Government commitment an information leaflet, 'Working with your spouse: how it affects your social welfare contributions and entitlements', has been developed between the Department of Social & Family Affairs and the Revenue Commissioners to set out the social welfare and tax implications of families co-working in a shared business. It was published on the 25th of June, 2008.

The leaflet clarifies that spouses who operate in a commercial partnership may be brought into the social insurance system, subject to certain criteria. In this way, both spouses incur a liability to pay self-employed PRSI and build up entitlement towards a contributory state pension and other social welfare benefits. Following the above campaign, more than one thousand applications for commercial partnership status have been received. Of these 579 applications have been finalised, of which 508 cases are approved.

A widow/widower may apply to the Department's Scope Section for recognition that she/he operated a commercial partnership with her/his spouse while the spouse was alive. To date five such applications have been made for partnership status. Four have been granted partnership status and the fifth was received this week and is currently being investigated.

Following recognition of the existence of a commercial partnership the customer can make an application for pension or benefit. This application is processed in the usual way subject to the rules and requirements of the relevant schemes legislation.