Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons to date who have applied for invalidity pension since self-employed persons with sufficient contributions have become entitled to it; the number of persons that have successfully applied for this payment to date; the number of persons that have been refused this payment to date; her plans for changes to the qualifying rules; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38771/18]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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This Government is committed to encouraging self-employment and entrepreneurship and this includes improving the level of PRSI based benefits available to self-employed people while ensuring the sustainability of the social insurance fund. The extension of Invalidity Pension (IP) to self-employed contributors from the 1st December 2017 has, for the first time, given the self-employed access to a social insurance based income support if they become permanently incapable of work as a result of an illness or disability, without having to go through a means test. This represented a real improvement in the level of social insurance cover available to the self-employed even though the level of contribution was not increased. When deciding to extend access to this benefit to the self-employed, the Government wanted to ensure that it was on a similar basis to that of those in employment.

A separate IP scheme for the self-employed was not set up; rather the qualifying conditions specified in legislation for the existing scheme, were amended to include self-employed PRSI contributions in the “reckonable” category for the purpose of IP.

From the extension of IP to self-employed contributors on 1st December 2017 to the end of August, a total of 8,201 applications have been received; not all of these applications would have been in respect of self-employed contributors and decisions as to entitlement have not yet been made on all of these applications. As it is not a separate scheme data for those who apply for or are awarded this payment based on self-employment contributions are not readily available.

The department keeps all schemes under review in order to ensure that the underlying objectives continue to be met. In that context I am asking my Department to undertake a review of the current arrangements with regard to the IP scheme, including take-up by self-employed contributors. Any changes to the qualifying conditions for IP would be likely to have financial implications and would be a matter for Government to consider in the context of other budgetary priorities.