Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

165. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of women who ceased employment to raise their families; the number who ceased employment due to the marriage ban in the public sector; the number as a result who are ineligible for State pension and are a dependant of their spouse; the number who have returned to the workplace and remain ineligible for the contributory State pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29180/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

To qualify for a state pension (contributory) a person must satisfy a number of criteria. One of these is that they have at least 520 paid contributions (i.e. 10 years). However this of itself does not qualify someone for a full rate contributory pension. As with such pensions in other countries, there is a separate criterion to decide the rate of payment for those who do qualify.

Since 1961, when contributory pensions were introduced in this State, the ‘yearly average’ contributions test has been used in calculating the rate of pension entitlement. Entitlement is banded, with the maximum rate payable to those with a yearly average of 48-52 contributions, and the minimum rate payable to those with a yearly average in the range of 10-14 contributions per year.

For those who have insufficient contributions to qualify for a full State pension (contributory), there are supports available in the overall State pension system which assists qualification for a contributory payment, based on factors such as the contributions made by their spouse, and/or other factors likely to impact upon their needs. These include:

- The Homemaker’s scheme, which was introduced to make qualification for State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties.

- Increases for Qualified Adults.

- Credits for periods of unemployment and illness.

For those who do not qualify for a full rate contributory pension, they may qualify for a means-tested non-contributory pension of up to 95% of the full contributory pension.

There are a number of reasons why someone might not have sufficient contributions paid to qualify for a State pension (contributory). Some would have been employed in the public service, others would have worked abroad and qualified for a foreign pension based on foreign contributions, and some would have spent significant periods out of the labour force altogether for a number of reasons, e.g., caring for children or elderly relatives, prolonged periods of unemployment or incapacity and other circumstances. In some cases, a person might never have been in insurable employment.

The statistics requested by the Deputy are not available to my Department.

Any questions regarding the number of public servants affected by the Marriage bar, or the consequent impact to the public service pension provision would be a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.