Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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544. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 160 on 20 October 2021, the number of partial-rate State pension (contributory) which have been approved on an annual basis since 2010 to date based on total contributions between 261 and 510, total contributions between 511 and 770 and total contributions between 771 and 1,040; and the total contributions between 1,041 and 1,300 per rate level and per contribution boundary by year, in tabular form. [4483/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The four tables below comprise the answer to the Deputy's query regarding State Pension (Contributory), 'SPC' qualifiers.

Table 1 summarises the numbers of SPC qualifiers and changes in the average rate of SPC since 2010.

The remaining tables supply further breakdowns by payment rate and contribution history of the figures given in the first table:

Table 2: SPC awards calculated under the standard Yearly Average method. Transfers from Invalidity pension (to the maximum rate of pension) have been included in this group.

Table 3: SPC awards calculated under the "Aggregated Contributions Method" (also known as 'Total Contributions Approach' (TCA)) introduced in 2018 for SPC qualifiers from 2012 onwards. In contrast to the Yearly Average method, pension rates under this method are not limited to specific percentages of the maximum rate, so the table shows ranges of rates of payment.

Table 4: Non-standard SPC awards relating to those with service in other countries or mixed insurance records.

The Deputy may wish to note the following:

- The contribution bands above represent the full social insurance record used in assessing the SPC claim. Note that this includes credited contributions and Home Caring Periods, if these were used in calculating the pension rate.

- Once a person qualifies for the maximum rate of State Pension, it is not necessary to add further information to the Department's systems in relation to pre-1979 history, credited contributions and Home Caring Periods. This means that some people's social insurance records may in fact have been stronger than shown above.

- All figures are based on data extracted from the Department's IT systems as at 31st December 2021.

- All tables show the number of those who qualified for State Pension (Contributory) by year of attaining age 66 (rather than by the year in which the claim was awarded)

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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545. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the extent of an entitlement to the State pension (contributory) in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4487/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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According to the records of my Department, the person concerned will reach pension age on 2 April 2022, and has not yet applied for State pension (contributory).

Under current eligibility conditions, an individual must have 520 full-rate paid contributions in order to qualify for standard State pension (contributory). 520 full-rate contributions equate to 10 years of full-rate insurable employment. Factors such as an individual’s social insurance record, their attachment to the workforce, and their countries of employment affect the rate of pension entitlement.

I have arranged for a copy of the person’s social insurance contribution record to issue to them, together with an application form for State pension (contributory). On receipt of a completed application, the person’s State pension (contributory) entitlement can be examined by a Deciding Officer and they will be notified of the outcome.

I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.