Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Women engaged in full-time agricultural activities will either be liable to pay social insurance contributions as a self-employed contributor under PRSI class S or as an employed contributor under PRSI class A, once their income is over a certain threshold. Contributions made under these PRSI classes entitles a person to a range of social insurance benefits, including Maternity Benefit.

Maternity Benefit is a statutory payment made for 26 weeks to employed and self-employed women who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions. The fundamental qualification criteria for Maternity Benefit are that a woman must be in insurable employment and entitled to statutory maternity leave or be in insurable self-employment.

In order to qualify for the payment, a self-employed claimant must have 52 qualifying PRSI contributions paid in either the Relevant Tax Year, the Tax Year prior to the Relevant Tax Year, or the Tax Year following the Relevant Tax Year. If a claimant is now self-employed but was previously in insurable employment, her PRSI contributions in that employment may help her qualify for Maternity Benefit if she does not satisfy the self-employment conditions as outlined.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.