Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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124. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which he expects to be in a position to review entitlements of the spouses of self-employed who may have worked in a partnership in the course of their lifetime but who find themselves unable to qualify for State pension (contributory) on the grounds that a partnership did not exist; if he will examine the number of applications in this category that were refused in the past six years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18879/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The common practice is that a person will apply to Scope section in the Department of Social Protection for a determination concerning their PRSI status in advance of applying for a State pension. Scope section will determine if a person genuinely worked in a partnership and is able to demonstrate that that was the case. Where retrospective commercial partnership status is approved, persons are in a position to apply for a State pension (contributory), subject to satisfying the qualification criteria.

If a person is not satisfied with the decision of the deciding officer in Scope section the person may appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

It is not possible to provide statistics on the number of applications for the State pension (contributory) where eligibility was determined on the basis of a partnership between spouses. However, the number of applications for recognition of a commercial partnership in the last six years (2011-2016) is set out in the table.

This shows that the vast majority of applicants had their legal status as a commercial partnership confirmed. Over the six years, only 70 people had their claim for commercial partnership status rejected, an average of less than 12 per year.

I am satisfied that the system in place, including the appeals mechanism, provides a thorough and fair review process.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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125. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which he proposes to examine or review the basis for qualification for State pension (contributory) in the case of women who resigned from the workplace to raise their families or who were victims of the marriage ban; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18880/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The State pension (contributory) SPC 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 sixteenth and sixty-sixth birthdays, they may qualify for a State pension (contributory), although the rate payable would vary depending on their circumstances.

The home-makers 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. This has the effect of increasing the yearly average of the pensioner, which is used to set the rate of their pension.

The Deputy should also note that the ‘marriage bar’ describes a rule that existed in most of the public service and some private sector employments, where women were required to leave their employment upon marriage. This practice was abolished in 1973 when Ireland joined the EEC. As employees in the public service generally paid a reduced rate of PRSI, which provided no cover for the State pension (contributory), the marriage bar would not generally have impacted on State pension entitlement, as they would not have qualified for that payment had they remained in public sector employment. Instead, by impacting upon their continuing public service employment, the marriage bar’s pension implications, where they exist, more generally relate to a person’s eventual entitlement to a Public Service pension. Questions on this are a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Where people who were unattached to the labour market during most of their adult lives may not 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.

Work is underway to replace the ‘yearly average’ system with a ‘total contributions approach’, under which, the number of contributions recorded over a working life will be more closely reflected in the rate of pension payment received. It is expected that the total contributions approach to pension qualification will replace the current average contributions test for State pension (contributory) for new pensioners from 2020, although that date is subject to change, as this is a very significant reform with considerable legal, administrative, and technical components to be put in place prior its implementation. The position of women who were home-makers will be considered very carefully in developing this reform.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.