Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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326. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the pension of a person (details supplied) will be examined with a view to reconciling their tax records with their pension stamps to maximise their pension payment. [30321/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned reached pension age on 22 February 2018. According to the records of my Department, they have a total of 1093 qualifying full-rate paid contributions and 937 credited contributions from their date of entry into insurable employment on 22 February 1968 to end-December 2017. This equates to a yearly average of 41 contributions and gives them an entitlement to a standard State pension (contributory) at 98% of the maximum rate. They were notified in writing of this decision on 16 March 2018.

An interim Total Contributions Approach (TCA) was introduced in January 2018 as an alternative to the ‘yearly average’ method of calculating pension entitlement for those State pension (contributory) customers born on or after 1 September 1946 and therefore affected by post-2012 Budget pension rates. The TCA provides for up to 20 years of HomeCaring Periods in their pension entitlement calculation for applicants who took time out of the workplace for parenting or caring duties.

When the person’s State pension (contributory) was reviewed under this approach, the person concerned indicated to my Department that they did not wish to pursue a review. They were notified in writing of this decision on 6 March 2019.

Accordingly, the person concerned is in receipt of the correct rate of State pension (contributory) commensurate with their social insurance record as held by my Department. If they consider that they have additional contributions or credits that have not been recorded, it is open to them to forward documentary evidence to my Department and their pension entitlement can be reviewed.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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327. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the pension of a person (details supplied) will be examined with a view to reconciling their tax records with their pension stamps to maximise their pension payment. [30322/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned reached pension age on 14 April 2019 According to the records of my Department, they have a total of 770 full-rate paid contributions, 1111 HomeCaring Periods and 222 credited contributions from their date of entry into insurable employment on 14 April 1969 to end-December 2018. This gave them an entitlement to a standard State pension (contributory) at 87% of the maximum rate. They were notified in writing of this decision on 9 May 2019.

A review was carried out on 11 July 2019 as the person concerned paid additional voluntary contributions. Payment of the additional voluntarily contributions brought the standard State pension (contributory) to 92.02% of the maximum rate. They were notified in writing of this decision on 11 July 2019, and arrears due were paid.

On 29 May 2020, the person concerned requested another review of their payment. Additional information was requested from them on 3 June 2020. If they wish to proceed with this review they should forward the requested information to my Department.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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328. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the pension of a person (details supplied) will be examined with a view to reconciling their tax records with their pension stamps to optimise their pension payment. [30323/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned reached pension age on 18 January 2020. According to the records of my Department, they have a total of 543 qualifying full-rate paid contributions and 185 credited contributions from their date of entry into insurable employment on 19 October 1970 to end of December 2018. This equates to a yearly average of 15 contributions and gives them an entitlement to a standard State pension (contributory) at 65% of the maximum rate. They were notified in writing of this decision on 31 December 2019.

Under European Union Regulations, a person’s social insurance record in one or more EU countries can be combined with their Irish social insurance record, to determine entitlement to a proportional or pro rata pension. As the person concerned has a UK social insurance record, details of their UK contribution history has been requested from the UK pension authority.

The person’s entitlement to an EU pro rata pension state pension (contributory) will be determined when this record is made available. The person will then be notified in writing of the outcome without delay and paid the most favourable rate of pension.

Accordingly, the person concerned is in receipt of the correct rate of State pension (contributory) commensurate with their social insurance record as held by my Department. If they consider that they have additional contributions or credits that have not been recorded, it is open to them to forward documentary evidence to my Department and their pension entitlement can be reviewed.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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329. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the pension of a person (details supplied) will be examined with a view to reconciling their tax records with their pension stamps to optimise their pension payment. [30324/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned reached pension age on 27 May 2017. According to the records of my Department, they have a total of 853 qualifying full-rate paid contributions and 282 credited contributions from their date of entry into insurable employment on 29 May 1967 to end December 2016. This equates to a yearly average of 22 contributions and gives them an entitlement to a standard State pension (contributory) at 85% of the maximum rate. They were notified in writing of this decision on 25 April 2017.

An interim Total Contributions Approach (TCA) was introduced in January 2018 as an alternative to the ‘yearly average’ method of calculating pension entitlement for those State pension (contributory) customers born on or after 1 September 1946 and therefore affected by post-2012 Budget pension rates. The TCA provides for up to 20 years of HomeCaring Periods in their pension entitlement calculation for applicants who took time out of the workplace for parenting or caring duties.

When the person’s State pension (contributory) was reviewed under this approach, they were awarded 1074 HomeCaring Periods. This increased their rate of pension entitlement from 85% to 91.01% of the maximum rate. They were notified in writing of this decision and arrears on 27 February 2019. They are also in receipt of Living Alone, Fuel and Telephone Support Allowance.

Accordingly, the person concerned is in receipt of the correct rate of State pension (contributory) commensurate with their social insurance record as held by my Department. If they consider that they have additional contributions or credits that have not been recorded, it is open to them to forward documentary evidence to my Department and their pension entitlement can be reviewed.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.