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Long-term carer’s qualifying contribution
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45. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 108:
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“108A. (1) A contribution (in this Act referred to as a ‘long-term carer’s qualifying contribution’) shall be attributed to a person for State pension (contributory) purposes, where, in respect of not less than 1,040 contribution weeks—
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(a) he or she had attained the age of 16 years but had not attained pensionable age or deferred pensionable age, as the case may be, and—
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(i) was resident in the State, or
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(ii) was a person referred to in section 219(2),
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(b) he or she was not engaged in insurable employment or self employment other than employment specified in paragraph 5 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 for State pension (contributory) purposes,
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(c) he or she—
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(i) was residing with and providing full-time care and attention to a relevant person or a qualified child, or
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(ii) subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that may be prescribed, was not residing with but was providing full-time care and attention to a relevant person,
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(d) he or she was not in receipt of—
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(i) a weekly payment under this Act disallowed for the purposes of this paragraph in accordance with regulations under subsection (4), or
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(ii) a weekly payment under this Act, other than a payment referred to in subparagraph (i), unless he or she was also in receipt of carer’s benefit or carer’s allowance,
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and
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(e) he or she applies to have such contribution weeks attributed as long-term carer’s qualifying contributions, whereby contributions may be attributed from 1 January 2024 to a person who complies with this section and—
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(i) was born on or after 1 January 1958 and has attained pensionable age or deferred pensionable age, as the case may be, or
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(ii) attained pensionable age prior to 1 January 2024, in which case contributions may be attributed only in respect of such periods as were completed before he or she attained pensionable age.
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(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), a person who—
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(a) engages in insurable employment,
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(b) engages in self-employment, or
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(c) undertakes such training or courses of education as the Minister may, from time to time determine,
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shall not be regarded as engaging in insurable employment or self employment where the aggregate duration of the activities referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) does not exceed 18 and a half hours in accordance with Regulations made under section 100(3), 179(2) or 186A(6).
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(3) The question as to whether a person satisfies the criteria set out in subsection (1), or regulations under subsection (4), is a question that may be decided by a deciding officer.
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(4) The Minister may, by regulations, make provision for the conditions required to be satisfied in order to qualify for long-term carer’s qualifying contributions and, notwithstanding the generality of the foregoing, any such regulations may provide for—
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(a) the circumstances in which a person may be regarded as providing full-time care and attention to a relevant person or a qualified child,
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(b) the manner in which an application may be made under this section, including by electronic means,
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(c) any additional evidence that may be offered by a person to demonstrate the nature, extent and duration of the care provided, including information or documentation to be provided by the person in support of the application,
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(d) any weekly payments under this Act that shall be disallowed for the purposes of subsection (1)(d), or
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(e) such other matters as the Minister considers appropriate for the purposes of this section.
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(5) Nothing in this section, or any other provision of this Act, shall be construed as attributing a long-term carer’s qualifying contribution to a person where that person complied with paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (1) in respect of less than 1,040 contribution weeks.
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(6) In this section—
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‘qualified child’ means a qualified child within the meaning of section 186C;
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‘relevant person’ means a relevant person within the meaning of section 224(2).”.
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