Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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819. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full year cost of amending the home-maker scheme by disregarding up to 200 pre-1994 A1 PRSI payments for the purpose of calculating a person's entry to the workforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26320/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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State pension (contributory) is based on the PRSI contributions paid or credited by the person over their working life, and the level of entitlement depends on their yearly average number of contributions.

The homemaker’s scheme was introduced in 1994 to make qualification for State pension contributory (SPC) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. The scheme allows up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age, or incapacitated people, to be disregarded when a person’s social insurance record is being calculated for pension purposes. The effect of this is to reduce the number of years by which the person’s contributions are divided, thereby increasing their yearly average, making it easier for them to qualify for a maximum rate SPC. However, it is important to note that the homemaker’s scheme will not, of itself, qualify a person for a SPC. The standard qualifying conditions for the SPC must also be satisfied. These require a person to enter insurable employment at least ten years before pension age, pay a minimum of 520 contributions at the correct rate (credited contributions do not satisfy this condition) and achieve a yearly average of at least 10 contributions paid or credited on their record.

The IT systems used to administer the State pension (contributory) do not hold the data that would be necessary to calculate or estimate the information requested by the Deputy, and so I must advise, regrettably, that the information requested is not available.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.