Publication
Operational Guidelines: Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds is a payment for people aged between 65 and 66 years who have ceased employment or self-employment. This payment is a provision under Jobseeker’s Benefit and Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed).
The payment is provided for under Sections 62 to 68 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 as amended and Articles 44 to 52 of S.I. 142 of 2007 as amended.
Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds is effective from 25 January 2021.
A person in receipt of this payment:
- Is no longer required to be available for full-time work or genuinely seeking work
- Is no longer required to sign on the Live Register
- Is no longer required to participate in Activation unless they choose to
- Will be paid the full personal rate and the full adult dependant rate (where applicable)
- Can participate in a course of education and remain on this payment. The customer must inform the Department if they commence a course with the Educational Training Board.
- May continue to work in subsidiary employment
A claim for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds (BP65) can be made through
www.MyWelfare.ie or by posting the completed BP651 application form to:
The National Processing Team
Address:
Department of Social Protection, PO Box 1330
, Dublin 15
A person must provide the following information when completing the form BP65 1:
- Personal details and those in respect of their spouse/civil partner/cohabitant (if applicable)
- Child dependent details
The onus is on the customer to prove entitlement to BP65 and to produce any evidence reasonably required. Where BP65 is in payment, the customer is obliged to notify the Department of any change in their circumstances (e.g. spouse/civil partner/cohabitant becoming employed/self-employed) and to produce any supplementary information if required.
Rates of payment are set out in the information booklet Current rates of payment for social welfare payments (SW19)
Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds will be paid between a person’s 65th and 66th birthday as long as that person continues to satisfy the conditions for the payment.
Persons approaching pension age should be advised to apply for State Pension (Contributory/Non-Contributory) 3 months in advance of the relevant age limit.
To qualify for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds a person must:
- be aged between 65 and 66 years
- have ceased employment or self-employment
- be resident in the Republic of Ireland
- satisfy the contribution conditions
To qualify for this payment a person must be 65 years of age. Applications can only be made when a person reaches 65 years of age. If a person makes an application in advance of their 65th birthday they should be advised to re-apply on reaching 65 years of age. This payment will continue until a person reaches 66 years of age provided they continue to meet the conditions for the payment.
To qualify for the Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds a person must have fully ceased employment or self-employment. If a person is still in employment or self-employment they should be advised to apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed).
If a person commences casual or part-time work while in receipt of Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds, their claim must be closed and the person should be advised to apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed).
To qualify for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds a person must satisfy certain contribution conditions, which are detailed below. The first condition applies to all BP65 claims.
First Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 104 reckonable contributions paid since they entered insurable employment payable at Classes A, H and P or 156 self-employment contributions paid at Class S.
Second Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 39 reckonable contributions paid or credited in the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) and 13 of these contributions must be paid
OR
A person must have at least 26 reckonable contributions paid in both the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) and the year immediately preceding the GCY.
If a person does not have 13 paid contributions in the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) they must have the 13 contributions paid in any one of the following years:
The two tax years before the relevant tax year
The last complete tax year
Or
The current tax year
The benefit and contribution year runs from 01 January to 31 December. The Governing Contribution Year (GCY) is the second last complete contribution year before the benefit year in which the claim is made. The GCY for claims in 2021 is 2019.
First Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 156 self-employment contributions paid at Class S or have 104 reckonable contributions paid since they entered insurable employment payable at Classes A or H
AND
Second Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 52 self-employment contributions at Class S in the GCY
A person may continue to work in subsidiary employment while in receipt of Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds. A day is not normally treated as a day of unemployment if a person is engaged in any occupation from which they derive any remuneration or profit unless the following conditions are satisfied:
- the occupation could ordinarily have been followed by them in addition to their usual employment, and
- the occupation could ordinarily have been followed by them outside the ordinary working hours of their usual employment, and
- either the remuneration or profit from the occupation does not exceed €7,500 on an annual basis or €144 on a weekly basis.
Employees must also have at least 117 employment contributions at Class A and H paid in respect of them in either the last 3 years or the last 3 complete contribution years immediately prior to the date of claim (this does not apply to a person who has only paid self-employment contributions) .
In general, it would be deemed appropriate to consider an occupation/employment as subsidiary where the above conditions are satisfied and where both employments were carried out concurrently for a period of approximately 6 months immediately prior to the date of claim. In such circumstances it is possible for a person to be engaged in insurable employment or self-employment and still satisfy the unemployment condition.
Credits are awarded in respect of Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds if the customer has an entitlement to credits at the beginning of a claim.
A customer transferring from Jobseekers’s Benefit to Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds should satisfy the conditions for credits.
A customer transferring from Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed) to Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds will not be entitled to credits unless they have satisfied the conditions for credits on their JBSE claim.
A self-employed person (or a person who was previously self-employed) may be entitled to an unemployment credit if they:
- have 1 paid PRSI contribution at the appropriate class
- have a paid or credited contribution in the last 2 complete contribution years. If not, a further 26 contributions are required ( S.I. 312/1996 ).
Link to Jobseeker’s Benefit Guidelines: Operational Guidelines: Jobseeker's Benefit
Link to the main service page for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds
