(1)

(a) a contribution (in this Act referred to as a 'voluntary contribution'), in the case of -

(i) a person who becomes a voluntary contributor by virtue of section 24(1)(a) and who is under pensionable age, or

(ii) a person born on or after 1 January 1958 who has attained pensionable age but has neither attained the age of 70 years nor been awarded a State pension (contributory),

shall be payable in each contribution year, at the time or times and in the manner that the Minister shall prescribe, at a percentage rate, as set out in paragraph (b), of the amount of the reckonable income (if any) of the contributor in the preceding contribution year or in an amount ('minimum annual amount'), as set out in paragraph (b), whichever is the greater.

(b)

(i) In the case of a voluntary contributor who, immediately before ceasing to be an employed contributor, was employed in employment in respect of which the employment contributions payable are not reckonable for the purposes of State pension (contributory), the percentage rate shall be 2.6 per cent and the minimum annual amount shall be €250.