Painful in more ways than one . . . high earners to pay for dental benefit up to December 1st. Photograph: Slidefile

Qualifying PRSI contributors earning more than £35,000, who may have thought they were entitled to a refund on dental treatment payments made to their dentists since April 1st, when the PRSI ceiling for dental benefits was lifted, are in for a disappointment.

According to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, the dental benefits agreement reached between the Irish Dental Association and the Department will only come into effect from December 1st. Payments made from April 1st will not qualify for any benefit refund.

A number of readers have responded to the recent Family Money report about the settlement between the IDA and the Department and the failure of many dentists to inform t heir clients about the availability of all Department treatment subsidies.

Ms H and Mr R pointed out that the report should have made it clearer that not all PRSI payers are entitled to dental benefits: the self-employed, they note correctly, must pay for all dental treatment. "I am also paying PRSI of 7 per cent and earning much less than £35,000. I am only self-employed because I was made redundant 12 years ago and because of my age could not get another job. I now work for myself and earn a modest, and irregular income. I paid PRSI for over 20 and only claimed a few dental benefits in that entire time."

Mr W, meanwhile, e-mailed Family Money to say that apart from there being "a conspiracy to restrict information on the extension of benefits", it also now seems "that Alice is alive and well but has now relocated from Wonderland to a position in the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs".

According to Mr W his wife re-entered the workforce two years ago "after 14 years of full-time parenting. According to the Department, her 34 PRSI contributions for the tax year 95/96 are insufficient to qualify for dental benefit in 1997/98. However, because she is now working she is not eligible for dental benefit under the dependent spouse category."

It does seem unfair that Mrs W could claim benefit while she was a dependent of her husband and only one set of PRSI contributions were being paid, but cannot now that she and her husband are both contributing to the Exchequer. It will not be until next year, when she has paid at least 48 PRSI weekly contributions that Mrs W will be able to claim benefit. Until then, she has no choice but to pay for her dental treatment.

Our self-employed reader Ms H wants to know "what benefits are the self-employed entitled to?". Very few, unfortunately.

For the last 10 years or so, the self-employed have been required to pay virtually the full PRSI rate and from this they can now claim an old age contributory pension, a survivor's contributory pension for their surviving spouse and a few minor allowances such as maternity/adoptive benefit, and orphan's contributory benefit and of course, free health service benefits. Dental, optical, death grant and benefits, invalidity pensions, disability payments, redundancy and unemployment benefits etc., simply do not apply.