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The Committee has noted the information supplied by the Government in reply to its previous comments and has also examined the legislation appended to the report.

The Committee wishes to point out the following:

Articles 9, 16 and 22 of the Convention (persons protected). The Committee notes that the statistical data provided by the Government in its report refer only to the number of persons contributing to the Bank for Social Welfare. These data are not sufficient to enable the Committee to ascertain to what extent effect is given to the above-mentioned provisions of the Convention, since no reference is made either to the total number of employees or to the total economically active population, according to whether the Government wishes to avail itself of the formula in subparagraph (a) or the formula in subparagraph (b) of these provisions, in determining the scope of the insurance schemes. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide statistical data in its future report, on the classes of persons protected, drawn up in the manner requested in the report form on this Convention, under Articles 9, 16 and 22.

Articles 10, 17 and 23 (benefit rates). In its previous comments (1984), the Committee requested the Government to provide statistical data on the amount of the benefits paid to a standard beneficiary in the three contingencies covered by the Convention (invalidity: a man with a wife and two children; old age: a man with a wife of pensionable age; death: a widow with two children) to enable it to ascertain the extent to which the level of the benefits granted by the national insurance schemes attains the percentage prescribed by the Convention, that is, 50 per cent for the first, and 45 per cent for the two other contingencies. At the same time, the Committee recalled that, according to the national insurance schemes, the Government could, under the Convention, establish the statistics using either the formula of Article 26 of the Convention (i.e. on the basis of the wage of a skilled manual male employee, chosen in conformity with paragraph 6 of this Article), or the formula of Article 27 (i.e. on the basis of the wage of an ordinary adult male labourer, chosen in conformity with paragraph 4 of this Article). The information supplied by the Government in its report and the data contained in Decrees Nos. 320/988 and 76/988 concerning, respectively, the increase in the pensions paid by the Bank for Social Welfare and the amounts of the minimum wages for certain workers in the metallurgy sector, show that, in Uruguay, the level of benefits does not attain the percentages laid down by the Convention for a standard beneficiary. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will be able to take the necessary steps to increase the amount of invalidity, old-age and survivors' benefits so that the level prescribed by the Convention is attained, and that it will indicate progress made in this respect on the basis of suitable statistics.

Article 13 (rehabilitation and placement services for the disabled). The Committee notes with interest from the Government's reply to its previous comments that a national occupational rehabilitation committee has been set up by Decree No. 186/983 and that it has been entrusted with the promotion and implementation of rehabilitation programmes covering the disabled throughout the country and with preventing the main risks which lead to invalidity. The Committee hopes that it will be possible for the next report to contain more detailed information on the work done and the results obtained in this area.

Article 18, paragraph 2(a) (granting of reduced benefits after 15 years of contribution or employment). In reply to the Committee's comments, the Government refers to Act No. 15.841/986 which amends section 44 of Constitutional Decree No. 9 of 1979 by extending the conditions for entitlement to old-age and invalidity pension. The Committee notes this amendment with interest, but again requests the Government to indicate whether persons who have not completed the period of service prescribed by section 35(a) of Constitutional Decree No. 9, mentioned above, are entitled to ordinary retirement pension (jubilación común) and, if so, to specify the rate of the benefit granted to a beneficiary with a qualifying period of only 15 years of employment or contribution, as opposed to the rate of an ordinary retirement pension paid to a beneficiary with a qualifying period of 30 years of employment or contribution.