Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The State Pension (Contributory) (SPC) is funded from the Social Insurance Fund through the contributions paid by workers. The rate of payment reflects the number of social insurance contributions paid over a working life. Eligibility for the SPC is based on a number of criteria:

• Being aged 66 or over.
• Having entered the Social Insurance system at least 10 years before you intend to drawdown your SPC.
• Having a minimum of 520 paid social insurance contributions (i.e., 10 years of reckonable PRSI contributions).

As the actuarial value of the State Pension is currently estimated at approximately €385,000, I believe it is reasonable to require people claiming a contributory pension to have made at least 10 years of paid contributions over the term a 40-50 year working life, before qualifying for a payment.

The State Pension system already acknowledges the important role that family carers, who are predominantly women, play and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, carers are not excluded from access to the State Pension (Contributory). Once a person has met the minimum requirement of 520 paid contributions, the State Pension system gives significant recognition to those whose work history includes extended periods outside of paid employment, often to raise families or in a full-time caring role. This is done through:

• PRSI credits (which include Credits for Carers Benefit and Carers Allowance).
• Homemaking Disregards and HomeCaring Periods to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid employment in the calculation of a payment rate.

The Homemakers Disregard Scheme was introduced in April 1994 for use in the Yearly Average (YA) calculation. This allowed an applicant to apply under the Homemaker's Scheme for those years since April 1994 spent caring for children under age 12 or other dependent relatives to be disregarded in the calculation under the Yearly Average calculation method.

In January 2018, a new method of calculation was introduced for those born on or after 1st September 1946, the Total Contributions Approach (TCA), which removed the time spent in the Social Insurance system as a factor and simply added paid and credited contributions together. This fundamentally changed the entitlement of many who spent time out of the workforce caring for others. It, for the first time, acknowledged home caring periods prior to 1994. TCA provides for up to 20 years of home caring periods to be considered. Those who have a 40 year record of paid and credited social insurance contributions, subject to a maximum of 20 years of credits / Homecaring periods, qualify for a maximum contributory pension where they satisfy the other qualifying conditions for the scheme.

Since January 2024, long-term carers contributions (LTCCs) can be awarded to a person who has cared for an incapacitated person/s for a period of 20 years (1040 weeks) or more and these contributions can be used towards the calculation of their SPC entitlement. This is done by attributing the equivalent of a paid contribution to long-term carers of incapacitated dependents to cover gaps in their contribution record. These long-term carers contributions will be treated the same as paid contributions for SPC entitlement only and can, where there are gaps in paid contributions, be used to satisfy the minimum 520 qualifying contributions condition. Once a person has 20 years or more caring for an incapacitated dependent, there is no limit on the number of years of LTCC's they can have awarded for their caring role.

The long-term carers' contributions can be used in conjunction with other paid or credited contributions to increase a person’s rate of payment.

To apply for the Homemakers Disregard Scheme, Homecaring periods or LTCC's a person should fill in the Pension Caring Supports application form, and send it to the Pension Caring Support Section of the Department of Social Protection. If they qualify for the relevant support then the credits will be added to their contribution record.

The Pension Caring Supports application form is available online on MyWelfare.ie. You will need a verified MyGovID account to apply online.

Finally, the situation remains unchanged where a person reaches State Pension age and does not satisfy the conditions to qualify for State Pension (Contributory) or qualifies for less than the maximum rate, they may instead qualify for one of the following:

• The means-tested State Pension (Non-Contributory) which is a means-tested payment (based on their share of household means) with a maximum payment of 95% of the State Pension (Contributory); or
• An increase for a qualified adult (based on their own means), amounting up to 90% of a full rate State Pension (Contributory) where their spouse has a contributory pension; or
• Where their spouse/civil partner is deceased, a widow's/widower's/civil partner's contributory pension, which they may claim either based on their spouse's or their own social insurance record. The qualifying conditions for this require fewer contributions paid (260) than the SPC for the maximum personal rate for those aged 66 or over.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.