Written answers
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Department of Social Protection
Invalidity Pension Eligibility
Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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172. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the means by which a person who is on disability benefit and who is unable to take up employment due to this disability can obtain the qualifying 48 weeks' PAYE credits in the previous tax year, to move to invalidity pension as stipulated by her Department's rules; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48312/14]
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Invalidity pension (IP) is a long-term payment for persons who are permanently incapable of work and who satisfy the social insurance (PRSI) conditions. A total of 260 weeks PRSI paid and 48 weeks PRSI paid or credited in the last complete tax year before the relevant date are required to satisfy the PRSI conditions for IP. The reckonable PRSI contribution classes for IP are A, E and H.
Illness benefit (IB) is a short-term payment for persons who are incapable of work and who satisfy the PRSI conditions. For IB, the reckonable PRSI contribution classes are A, E, H and P. The relevant tax year is the second last complete tax year before the year in which the claim for IB begins. To qualify for payment of IB, a person must have a total of 104 weeks reckonable PRSI paid. In addition, a person must satisfy oneof the following:
(a) 39 weeks of reckonable PRSI contributions paid or credited in the relevant tax year, of which 13 must be paid contributions. If the person does not have 13 paid contributions in the relevant tax year, they may satisfy the conditions by having 13 paid contributions in either of the two tax years before the relevant tax year OR in the last complete tax year (before the year in which the claim for Illness Benefit begins) OR in the current tax year. Alternatively,(b) 26 weeks of reckonable PRSI contributions paid in the relevant tax year, and26 weeks of PRSI contributions paid in the tax year immediately before the relevant tax year.Credited PRSI contributions (credits) are awarded to eligible persons to assist them to maintain continuity of PRSI during periods of incapacity or unemployment. To qualify for a credited PRSI contribution (credit), a person must have worked and paid at least one PRSI contribution at PRSI Class A, B, C, D, E, or H and have paid or credited contributions in either of the last two complete tax years. For example, if a person is unemployed and/or incapable of work in 2014, they must have reckonable paid or credited contributions in either 2013 or 2012 in order to qualify for credits for the period of their incapacity/unemployment. If there is a gap of more than two complete tax years a person must work and pay reckonable contributions for a further 26 weeks before they will qualify for credited contributions. Credits are usually awarded at the same rate as the person’s last paid PRSI contribution e.g. if the person last paid PRSI at Class A, the credit they receive will be reckonable for Class A benefits.
Persons who have an insufficient employment/PRSI record to qualify for a social insurance benefit/pension may apply for the appropriate means-tested social assistance scheme. For example persons, between the ages of 16 and 66 who are suffering from an illness or disability which is expected to last at least 1 year, may qualify for disability allowance (DA). Disability allowance recipients must be habitually resident in the State.
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