Written answers

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Carer's Allowance Payments

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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997. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that persons in receipt of carer's allowance who were self-employed at the time their carer duty commenced are denied a credited contribution; her views on whether this means that effectively two persons in receipt of carer's allowance are being treated differently by the contributions system; her further views on whether some persons are being penalised as a result of their prior employment history; if this anomaly will be rectified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12900/18]

Photo of Regina DohertyRegina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The social insurance system currently provides recognition of the contribution of recipients of carer’s allowance and full-time carers generally, through the system of credited contributions and the homemaker’s scheme.

Credited contributions (credits) are awarded to recipients of carer’s allowance where they have an underlying entitlement to credits. Recipients of this payment qualify for credits where they have at least one paid contribution in the two years prior to commencement of caring or have had credited contributions in that period. Credits are also awarded to workers who take unpaid carer’s leave from work.

Credits protect social insurance entitlements by bridging gaps in an employee’s social insurance record, where they are not in a position to pay PRSI, such as during periods spent caring. In combination with paid PRSI contributions, credits can assist employees in qualifying for short-term schemes such as jobseeker’s benefit and enhance the level of benefit for long-term schemes such as the State pension contributory (SPC). In the latter case, once someone has 520 paid contributions over the course of their working life – the first condition for eligibility for the SPC, credits have the same value as paid contributions when the calculation to determine the yearly average number of contributions paid or credited is applied. The yearly average determines the rate of pension payable.

In addition, all carers, including those who are not on a welfare payment or who do not qualify for credits, may qualify for the homemaker’s scheme. The homemaker’s scheme is designed to help homemakers and carers qualify for the SPC and applies to homemaking periods since 6 April 1994. It equally applies to both men and women.

The scheme provides that years spent working in the home while caring on a full-time basis for a child up to 12 years of age or an incapacitated person age 12 or over will be disregarded in calculating a person's yearly average number of contributions.

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