Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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277. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision has been made on when the total contribution system will be introduced for the State pension; if there will be a requirement of 30 or 40 years of contributions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47369/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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There has been no decision on the number of years required to qualify for a maximum rate pension under the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) that will apply from 2020. This issue was one of the matters the recent public consultation exercise on TCA sought opinions on, and those opinions will inform the final design of that scheme.

I launched the public consultation on the design of the TCA on the 28th of May to which stakeholder groups were invited. A number of workshops were also held on the day to elicit views and feedback. The consultation was open for over 3 months and we received almost 300 responses from individuals and organisations including open written submissions. Those submissions outlined the views of respondents upon a number of issues, including the number of years required for a full pension, as intended as part of the consultation process.

Analysis of the views submitted is being finalised. When I have considered this analysis, I will bring a proposal to Government in due course, and the scheme will be introduced through the standard legislative process, and the policy choices will, I believe, be broadly debated by members of the Oireachtas.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.