Report under Section 23 of the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act 2019 on the Criteria to Qualify for Treatment Benefit – August 2020

This report has been prepared to satisfy the statutory requirement set out in Section 24 of the Social Welfare (No. 2) Act 2019.

The report examines the criteria to qualify for the Treatment Benefit Scheme. It looks at issues relating to the qualifying conditions for working age people, in particular the difficulties experienced by people in specific categories. The report addresses the take-up of the scheme; current benefits available; current eligibility conditions and the changes over time; and trends in the take-up of treatments. It looks specifically at issues related to the number of contributions required for certain groups – for all insured contributors; younger contributors; and for people who take up insurable employment. The report identifies options for future consideration.

One of the recommendations in the report was to consider changing the age at which 260 contributions are required from 25 to 29 years. Young people are staying in education longer and taking up full-time employment later and as a result, they have difficulty building up the required contributions to qualify for the scheme. Further analysis took place following publication of the report and an announcement was made in Budget 2022 to reduce the required number of contributions for people in this cohort. This will be implemented from 28 May 2022.