Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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112. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 will be amended to allow applicants for the State pension (contributory) to qualify for the benefit by using their home carer credits in view of the fact that the credits can be used to increase the rate of payment at which the pension is paid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16196/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The new Programme for Government “Our Shared Future” states that a Commission on Pensions will be established to examine sustainability and eligibility issues with state pensions and the Social Insurance Fund. The Commission is to report on to Government by June 2021 on options including the qualifying age, contribution rates, total contributions and eligibility requirements. The Government will take action, having regard to the recommendations of the Commission, within six months.

The current position is that a person is required to have a minimum of 520 paid reckonable PRSI contributions in order to qualify for the State Pension (Contributory), which reflects the contributory nature of the benefit. The actuarial value of the State Pension is estimated at over €300,000 which requires people who claim a contributory pension to have made at least 10 years of paid contributions over 50 years of a working age life.

When the Interim Total Contributions Approach (Interim TCA) was introduced, it included provision for the HomeCaring Periods Scheme which fundamentally changed the entitlement of many who spent time out of the workforce caring for others. It, for the first time, acknowledged home caring periods prior to 1994. Interim TCA provides for up to 20 years of home caring periods to be considered. These periods were not social insurance credits and could not be used for any other purpose other than improving the rate of pay for those who qualified for the State Pension (Contributory). Those who have a 40 year record of paid reckonable social insurance contributions, subject to a maximum of 20 years of credits / homecaring periods, qualify for a maximum contributory pension where they satisfy the other qualifying conditions for the scheme. From April 2019, all new State Pension (Contributory) applications are assessed under all possible rate calculation methods, including both the Interim TCA and the Yearly Average approach, with the most beneficial rate paid to the pensioner.

It should also be noted if a person does not satisfy those conditions, they may qualify for the means-tested State Pension (Non-Contributory), the maximum rate of which is over 95% that of the maximum rate of the State Pension (Contributory). Alternatively, if their spouse is a State pensioner and they have significant household means, their most beneficial payment may be an Increase for a Qualified Adult, based on their personal means, and amounting up to 90% of a full contributory pension.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.