I am three months pregnant and I'm hoping that I will receive maternity benefit when I go on maternity leave. According to the welfare website, when applying for maternity benefit, the relevant tax year that they look at for 2007, is 2005. I took a year out of my job in October 2004 and I didn't return to the same job until October 2005 so effectively I wasn't working in Ireland for most of 2005. I didn't work in Europe either. I was in Canada. It's my understanding that this means that I have no PRSI contributions for that year. I am slightly concerned that I will not be entitled to maternity benefit now. Could somebody please shed some light on this for me?