Brendan Smith on extending PRSI payments beyond pension age

There is a welcome commitment in the programme for Government to help people improve their social insurance contributions beyond pension age. Perhaps the Minister could outline to us what strategy she has put in place to enable that to be implemented, that much needed reform. Thank you, Alaskan Corle. Thank you Deputy Smith for raising this matter with me, and I propose to take questions 12 and 67. The current position is that any paid employment after a person's 66th birthday is not reckonable for state pension contributory purposes, nor is the employment liable to any PRSI contributions. The Government established the Pensions Commission in November 2020 to examine the sustainability of the state pension system and the social insurance fund. The Commission's report was published on 7 October 2021, and it sets out a wide range of recommendations, including allowing a person to continue paying PRSI contributions past state pension age to improve their social insurance record for state pension contributory purposes. The report has been referred to the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development on the Islands, and to the Commission for Taxation and Welfare for their views. I understand that both the Chair of the Commission, Ms Josephine Feely, and the Chair of his Technical Subcommittee, Ms Roma Burke, met with the Joint Committee on 17 November 2021. Officials from my Department also attended this meeting. In the interest both of older people and of future generations of older people, the Government intends to consider the comprehensive and far-reaching recommendations in the Commission's report very carefully and holistically. My officials will work over the coming months to examine each of the recommendations. They will consult across Government through the Cabinet Committee system. I think it is really important that we complete that work before reaching conclusions. I intend to bring a recommended response and implementation plan to Government by the end of March 2022. I hope this brings some clarity to the matter. Thank you very much, Minister. I welcome the fact that this important issue has been referred to the Pensions Commission and also to our Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection. As we all know, people's insurance contributions can be interrupted for a myriad of reasons. Maybe a person takes time off to rear family to care for a family member or a person in some instances had no opportunity to take up employment. Sometimes people emigrated as well and their insurance contribution was interrupted. Thankfully, in more recent years, people have come back to education and upskilled and gained new skills to take on employment and resume their insurance contributions. I think we need flexibility within the Social Welfare Code to ensure that new and emerging trends are cared for. If a person wishes to work beyond pension age and make their contribution, then they should be able to enhance their record to ensure that their pension is improved when they finally decide to give up work. I think these are the types of issues that we need to move on. Many of the people that I have come across who had insurance contributions record interrupted, there were people who never relied on the State for assistance. There were hardworking people who often had the opportunity to remain in employment. Yes, there are a number of instances and these are the issues that the Pension Commission have looked at. They have set out comprehensive and far-reaching recommendations. All of the recommendations were unanimously agreed by the Commission, with the exception of the State pension age increase. The member nominated by IC2 disagreed with this. The recommendations can be broken into three broad interrelated groupings, covering many of the issues you have raised, Deputy. The recommendations are to make the system fairer, including linking employment contractual retirement age to the State pension age. Enhanced pension provision for long-term carers in excess of 20 years. That is something we were talking about earlier. The option to retire at 65 years of age for those with 45 years of PRSI contributions. The option to defer retirement to receive an actuarial increased pension rate. As you said, Deputy, some of them may be able to work on and pay their contributions. Or to continue paying PRSI to improve their social insurance record. Dr Smith. I welcome the Minister's commitment to advance these necessary reforms. because they are generally for people who have contributed to society and want to ensure that they have a decent pension when they do decide to cease employment. I sincerely hope that there can be a realistic timeframe put on introducing these new measures and these reforms as well. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy. The Government is committed, as I said, to bringing forward recommendations on the Pensions Commission plan to Government. I will bring a recommended response and an implementation plan to Government by the end of March 2020. I am also progressing the issue of auto-enrolment. That is another aspect that we have committed to bringing in during the term of this Government. There is a lot of work there to be done in terms of how we can improve the situation for people when they retire. I just want to thank the Deputy for raising the matter with me. Thank you, Deputy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.