Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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198. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the case of a person (details supplied) and provide an explanation for the circumstances of the historical confusion over that person's pay related social insurance, PRSI, payments; the benefits the person is now entitled to; the way this would differ if the relevant change had been made to that person's PRSI in 1995; the person's entitlement to partial capacity benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21580/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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New arrangements relating to PRSI for public servants came into operation in 1995. Public servants, who were in employment before 6 April 1995 and continued to be so employed without a break in service, are insured at the modified rate of PRSI contribution, class D; new entrants recruited after 6 April 1995 pay PRSI class A.

Following on from the 6 April 1995 changes, a number of public sector employers applied the incorrect rate of PRSI in certain situations. This resulted in an overpayment of PRSI contributions and an underpayment of pension contributions. The Scope Section of my Department continues to work with some of the larger employers, such as the Health Service Executive and Department of Education and Skills, to resolve these issues.

In the case referred to by the Deputy, the person concerned was made permanent and formally admitted to the superannuation scheme on 1 September 2006. The employer should have applied class D PRSI from this date but continued to apply class A. In 2013, following a request by the employer for an insurability decision, Scope Section determined that the correct class of contribution effective from 1 September 2006 was class D, when the employee was made permanent and formally admitted to the superannuation scheme. Prior to that, the employee was correctly insured at class A.

The social welfare payments that may be covered by the class D contributions, subject to the particular qualifying conditions for each scheme being met, are carer’s benefit, occupational injury benefit, guardian’s payment, and the contributory widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s pension.

Partial capacity benefit is a social welfare scheme which allows a person to return to work (if they have reduced capacity to work) and continue to receive a payment from the Department. To qualify for partial capacity benefit a person needs to be currently in receipt of either illness benefit (for a minimum of 6 months), orinvalidity pension. Persons paying class D contributions are not eligible for partial capacity benefit as the qualifying schemes, illness benefit or invalidity pension are not covered by class D contributions.