Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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194. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the action a person (details supplied) can take regarding missing PRSI contributions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32567/16]

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 ten 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.

There is insufficient information in the Deputy’s question as to why the person in question has a gap in the relevant period, and why they would have no paid, credited or voluntary contributions in that period, and without further details it is not possible to advise whether such a gap would reduce her rate of payment.

Where people may not qualify for a full contributory pension as a result of an intermittent PRSI record, they may qualify for a means-tested State Pension (non-contributory), amounting up to 95% of the maximum contributory pension rate.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.