Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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164. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will extend the State pension (contributory) to women who retired from the workforce while rearing their children, and later returned to employment, only to find themselves ineligible for this pension; if eligibility for a reduced level of pension might be considered in such cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1529/16]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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165. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of women whose employment and as a consequence, insurance contributions were interrupted by the rearing of their families, and who may or may not have later returned to the workforce, and who may have found themselves ineligible for the State pension (contributory); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1530/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 164 and 165 together.

The State pension contributory is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Therefore, it is important to ensure that those qualifying have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement to a State pension, all contributions paid or credited over their working life from when they first enter insurable employment until pension age are taken into account when assessing their entitlement and the level of that entitlement.

Since 1961, when contributory pensions were introduced, the average contributions test has been used in calculating pension entitlement. Once over 16 years of age, the date a person enters into insurable employment is the date used for averaging purposes. In this context, even if someone has only 10 years (520 weeks) of paid reckonable contributions between their 16th and 66th birthdays, they may qualify for a State pension (contributory), although the rate payable would vary depending on their circumstances.

The homemaker’s scheme makes qualification for a higher rate of State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. The scheme, which was introduced in and took effect from 1994, allows up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age (or caring for incapacitated people over that age) to be disregarded when a person’s social insurance record is being averaged for pension purposes, subject to the standard qualifying conditions for State pension contributory also being satisfied.

Where people who were unattached to the labour market during most of their adult lives cannot qualify for a contributory pension in their own right as they have paid few or no contributions, or cannot qualify for a full rate as a result of an intermittent PRSI record, the social protection system provides alternative methods of supporting such pensioners in old age. Therefore, if their spouse has a contributory pension, they may qualify for an Increase for a Qualified Adult amounting up to 90% of a full rate pension, which by default is paid directly to them. Alternatively, they may qualify for a means-tested State Pension (non-contributory), amounting up to 95% of the maximum contributory pension rate.

The combination of measures under the Social Protection code have resulted in very low levels of consistent poverty, both for men and women, aged over 65. The most recently published Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund confirms that those with lower earnings and those with shorter contribution histories, mostly women, have and will continue to obtain the best value for money due to the distributive nature of the Fund.

There are no statistics available to my Department detailing the numbers who spent period(s) outside the Irish labour market to care for their families, and who, as a direct result of those periods, would not qualify for a State pension. Such statistics would comprise largely of people who have not paid PRSI for many decades, and who in many cases would not have made a claim under the State pension system. There are a great number of reasons why someone might cease paying PRSI contributions from a certain date, and the data sought by the Deputy is not, therefore, available to my Department.