Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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583. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to assist women who do not qualify for a State pension contributory due to the fact that they were forced to leave work due to the marriage bar and who do not have 520 paid contributions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39394/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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There are a number of payments and pensions paid by my department to people over State pension age. One of these is the State pension (contributory), qualification for which is based on a number of criteria, including that a minimum of 520 qualifying contributions have been paid into the Social Insurance Fund. People who have not made such contributions are generally paid alternative payments, if they are not in receipt of a Public Service pension.

“Developing the National Pensions System - Final Report of the National Pensions Board”, published in 1993, recommended that the number of paid contributions required to qualify for a contributory pension should be increased to 520, and the necessary legislation to effect these recommendations was contained in Section 12 of the Social Welfare Act 1997. These changes reflected the very significant increase in PRSI coverage which had taken place over the previous decades, which made it easier for people to pay into the Social Insurance Fund for at least 10 years between the age of 16 and retirement.

It is generally considered reasonable to require people who seek a contributory pension to have made at least 10 years' paid contributions into the Social Insurance Fund which finances it, over the span of 50 years of working age life.

For those who do not qualify for the State Pension (contributory) (SPC) because they have paid few or no contributions into the Social Insurance Fund, there are other state pension payments available. Notably, they may qualify for the State Pension (non-contributory), which is a means-tested payment (based on their share of household means) with a maximum payment of 95% of the SPC. If their spouse has a contributory pension, they may qualify for an increase for a qualified adult (based on their own means), amounting up to 90% of a full rate SPC. Consequently, if a person doesn’t receive a State pension at pension age, they have both significant means and have made little or no contribution to the Social Insurance Fund. Awarding them a state pension would take resources away from other pensioners, most of whom either have contributed into the Social Insurance Fund most of their adult life, and/or are solely dependent upon the State pension, and have less means than the group who would benefit from such a change.

It’s worth noting that 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. As it was a rule rather than a general legal prohibition against employing married women, they could either return to work or take up other work, and many did. It is also worth remembering that most public servants recruited prior to 1995 are not entitled to the State pension, regardless of gender and marital status. Therefore, the marriage bar would not generally have negatively impacted on State pension entitlement, as they would not have qualified for that payment had they remained in public sector employment. The implications it had for public service pensions are a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.