Employees
To qualify for Maternity Benefit, you must satisfy one of the following PRSI contribution conditions. You must have:
-
at least 39 paid PRSI (
see note 1) contributions in the 12-month period before the first day of your maternity leave,
or
-
at least 39 paid PRSI (
see note 1) contributions since first starting work
and at least 39 paid or credited PRSI (
see note 1) contributions in the relevant tax year, or in the year following the relevant tax year,
or
-
at least 26 paid PRSI (
see note 1) contributions in the relevant tax year
and at least 26 paid PRSI (
see note 1) contributions in the tax year before the relevant tax year.
Note 1: Only PRSI at Classes A and E count.
Maternity Benefit is not paid to serving members of the Defence Forces.
Previous employment
If you were in insurable self-employment before starting insurable employment as an employee, your Class S PRSI contributions may help you qualify for Maternity Benefit, if you do not satisfy the employee conditions outlined above.
You may use contributions in the tax year before and after the relevant tax year (see note 4) to help you satisfy the PRSI contribution conditions. However, the amount of Maternity Benefit you may get depends only on your earnings in the relevant tax year.
Self-employed
To qualify for Maternity Benefit, you must satisfy one of the following PRSI contribution conditions. You must have:
-
52 paid PRSI (
see note 2) contributions in the relevant tax year,
or
-
52 paid PRSI (
see note 2) contributions in the tax year before the relevant tax year,
or
-
52 paid PRSI (
see note 2) contributions in the tax year following the relevant tax year.
Note 2: Only PRSI at Classes A, E and S count.
Note 3:
Self-employment contributions, PRSI Class S, are not awarded for any particular year until you have paid your total tax for that year.
Previous employment
If you were in insurable employment before starting self-employment, your PRSI contributions (Classes A and E) may help you qualify for Maternity Benefit if you do not satisfy the self-employment conditions.
Note 4:
The relevant tax year is the second last complete tax year before the benefit year in which your maternity leave starts. The benefit year begins each year on the first Monday in January and ends on the Sunday immediately before the first Monday in January the following year.
| For an application made in |
The relevant tax year is |
| 2011 |
2009
|
| 2012 |
2010
|