Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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874. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the pathway for a PhD researcher (details supplied) to access maternity benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63925/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Maternity Benefit is a payment made to women who are on maternity leave from work and covered by social insurance (PRSI).

The main provisions relating to Maternity Benefit are in the Maternity Protection Acts, 1994 and 2004, Chapter 9 of Part II of Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005, and Chapter 2 of Part II of Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) Regulations, 2007 (as amended).

Maternity Benefit is paid by the Department of Social Protection to women who have a certain number of paid P.R.S.I. contributions on their social insurance record and who are in insurable employment up to the first day of their maternity leave.

There are several pathways in which a claimant can satisfy the P.R.S.I. contribution requirements.  The three most recent complete calendar years are considered along with the current year.  The different pathways are detailed below.  Each claimant must satisfy one of the following:

1. 39 contributions in the Relevant Tax Year (RTY): the relevant tax year is 2 years prior to the current year; in this case this would be 2020.

2. 39 contributions in the year following the RTY.  In this case, it would be 2021.

3. 39 contributions in the 12 months prior to the start of her Maternity Leave.

4. 26 contributions in the RTY and 26 in the year prior to this.

Unfortunately, the person concerned does not satisfy any of these PRSI requirements.

The person concerned submitted an application for Maternity Benefit on 04 November 2022 and a decision letter was posted to her on 16 November 2022, stating the reason why the claim was disallowed (Insufficient PRSI contributions).  Upon receipt of the Deputy's enquiry, the PRSI details were once again reviewed, confirming the original decision.  The person concerned does not have the required number of PRSI contributions set forth in the governing legislation.

There are different payments available to claimants when a baby is born if they do not qualify for Maternity Benefit.  In some cases, they may be able to stay on their current payment or they may qualify for another payment.  If they are working more than 19 hours a week on low pay and they have a family, they may qualify for Working Family Payment (WFP) (formerly known as Family Income Supplement).  If they are parenting alone, they may qualify for the One-Parent Family Payment.  The person concerned should contact her local Intreo Centre or local Social Welfare Branch Office to discuss her options.

I trust this clarifies the position for the deputy.