Assistance with my Mum's state pension application

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Blackrock1

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Hi folks,

hopefully someone can give some guidance or a steer here. My mum is 67, she applied for the contributory state pension last year and was told she didnt qualify. She wont qualify for a means tested pension. She is still working.

They sent her a letter last year that shows she has:
Reckonable paid - 452
Reckonable credited - 44

Things they appear to be missing:
- She turned 66 in June 2021, she would have worked for Jan - May (assume she should have 19 / 20 extra weeks credit for this)
- A couple of empoyments 1977-79 where she was working full time
- She was a stay at home mother of children under the age of 12 from Sept 1980 to June 1996 there doesnt appear to be anything credited for this and i believe there should be.

They have been replying saying the records department are looking into the missing employments for 9 months now with no sign of any update.

Appreciate you may need more information but what can i do to progress this for her, or what should her next steps be (especially re the period she was a home carer)

Thanks in advance.
 

Homemaker's Scheme

If you care full-time for children, or for an ill or disabled person, the Homemaker’s Scheme makes it easier for you to qualify for a State Pension (Contributory).
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie

The Homemakers scheme started 6 April 1994.
 
Contributions are only counted up to the last full year before the person turns 66, so those paid in 2021 aren't counted.
 
To be eligible for the SCP she needs to have made a total of 520 PAID PRSI contributions from the time that she started working until the end of the year BEFORE she turns 66.

You state that she has a total of 452, so she needs to bring that total up to 520 before she'll be eligible. So, if she or DSP can establish that PRSI contributions were made (or stamps paid) by her employer in respect of her 1970's employments, then she should be able to cross the 520 paid contributions threshold, but failing this it's unlikely that she'll be eligible.
 
If she can get above the 520 Paid contributions then she can get Credits for the child minding under the new Homecaring Periods Scheme, which was introduced in 2018 and gives credits for periods pre 1994. That could give her an additional 16 years credits ( calculated on the Total Contribution Approach for the State Pension).
 
Conan said:
If she can get above the 520 Paid contributions then she can get Credits for the child minding under the new Homecaring Periods Scheme, which was introduced in 2018 and gives credits for periods pre 1994. That could give her an additional 16 years credits ( calculated on the Total Contribution Approach for the State Pension).
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Thanks, thats what was confusing me, so she needs to get above 520 before the homecaring periods scheme kicks in (and if it does then it should increase her eligibility by a decent amount)
 
Groucho said:
To be eligible for the SCP she needs to have made a total of 520 PAID PRSI contributions from the time that she started working until the end of the year BEFORE she turns 66.

You state that she has a total of 452, so she needs to bring that total up to 520 before she'll be eligible. So, if she or DSP can establish that PRSI contributions were made (or stamps paid) by her employer in respect of her 1970's employments, then she should be able to cross the 520 paid contributions threshold, but failing this it's unlikely that she'll be eligible.
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yes thanks, that makes sense, to the extent the records department have been very slow in coming back on this is there anything we can do? or just sit on our hands, follow up and wait?
 
Blackrock1 said:
yes thanks, that makes sense, to the extent the records department have been very slow in coming back on this is there anything we can do? or just sit on our hands, follow up and wait?
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Is there any possibility of doing your own research, for example chasing up any available evidence for her unlisted1970s employments, with a view to submitting that the DSP to support her application?
 
Blackrock1 said:
yes thanks, that makes sense, to the extent the records department have been very slow in coming back on this is there anything we can do?
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It's an extremely long shot, but any payslips she has from this period could help. An approach to the employer (if in existence still) might also help.
 
T McGibney said:
Is there any possibility of doing your own research, for example chasing up any available evidence for her unlisted1970s employments, with a view to submitting that the DSP to support her application?
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she has sent them the details, the entities, the owner, co workers names etc, i think thats all she can get together unfortunately.
 
Blackrock1 said:
the employer was subsumed into musgraves back in the 80s apparently.
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She should write a letter to Musgraves setting out:

  1. The entity and business area she worked for
  2. Rough periods of employment
  3. PPSN
  4. Name, maiden name, DOB, address at the time
  5. A request for copies of any records relating to her employment

Musgrave's is a company with a nine-figure turnover and should have the capacity to deal with this. Maybe there is nothing on file but it is only the cost of a stamp to try to find out. She may need to send reminders too.

It's: Musgrave Group, Musgrave House, Ballycurreen, Airport Road, Cork, T12 TN99
 
So it turns out the company wasnt bought by Musgraves, she had that wrong, good news they still exist, its avoncourt packaging in the cork, bad news is that they only have payroll records going back 7 years.
 
Blackrock1 said:
So it turns out the company wasnt bought by Musgraves, she had that wrong, good news they still exist, its avoncourt packaging in the cork, bad news is that they only have payroll records going back 7 years.
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Would they have any other records (HR etc) longer than that, that could verify that she was working there at one point?
 
Blackrock1 said:
for 9 months now with no sign of any update.
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Can she contact a good local politician and see if they can get things moving as 9 months is far too long to be kept waiting for a reply.

Many years ago when my mother was told she did not qualify because she was a few contributions short she went to her local (enthusiastic to get votes) politician and they were able to get it sorted for her and she got her pension.
 
It is unlikely that a company would keep records going back 45 years. They'd all be in paper format and take up a huge amount of space. You can imagine the condition they would be in even if they did. Blank pages with yellow stains. It would be unlikely that they transferred them to digital copies as there would have been no need to.

Your best bet is the dept of welfare and get them to complete their record search going back to the 70's. They have to keep records of people's PRSI contributions, so they will have transferred the records to digital copies.
 
Some of the old records held by the Department may still be kept on microfiche (they existed during my time there), so searching can be a lengthy process. Did your mother give the Department any old insurance number(s) she may have had pre-1979?
 
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