Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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1023. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the social welfare payments a person (details supplied) is entitled to. [11564/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned reached age 66 in September 2023. There is no record in my department of an application for state pension contributory or state pension (non-contributory).

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

If a person does not qualify for the standard State pension (contributory) and has worked in a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral agreement or one or more EU countries, they may qualify for a pro-rata pension. To qualify for a pro-rata pension, their social insurance record from one of these countries can be combined with their Irish insurance record to satisfy the conditions.

If the person concerned has provided full-time care to incapacitated dependents for 20 years or more (1,040 weeks), it is open to them to apply for long-term carers contributions. If eligible, the equivalent of paid contributions will be attributed to cover gaps in their contribution record. The periods of caregiving do not need to be consecutive. The quickest way to apply for long-term carers contributions is online at MyWelfare.ie.

I have arranged for a copy of the social insurance record of the person concerned to issue along with a detailed explanatory note to assist in understanding their record, and information on how to calculate entitlement to State pension (contributory). If they consider that there are additional contributions or credits that have not been recorded, it is open to them to forward documentary evidence to Social Welfare Services, College Road, Sligo, F91 T384.

Where a person aged 66 or over does not satisfy the conditions to qualify for a contributory pension or qualifies for less than the maximum rate, they may instead qualify for the State pension (non-contributory) which is a means-tested payment with a maximum payment of 95% of the contributory pension.

The quickest way to apply for either of the state pensions is online at MyWelfare.ie.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.