I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. Section 14 of the Civil Service (Transferred Officers) Compensation Act, 1929, for convenience hereafter referred to as the 1929 Act, provided that when, owing to changes in the conditions of employment of a transferred officer, the position of such officer had been materially altered to his detriment such officer should be entitled to retire if he so desired with compensation based on service plus certain additional years. The object of the present Bill is to ensure that, when suspension is lifted and the 1929 Act again begins to operate, certain changes in the conditions of employment of transferred officers which occurred during the emergency will be deemed not to have been material alterations to the detriment of such officers within the meaning of Section 14. The board will be precluded from considering any claim for compensation based on any one of these alterations.
Section 2 of the Bill sets out seriatim the various bases on which a claim could be put forward if this legislation were not enacted:—
"(a) The operation of the Order of 1940. This Emergency Powers Order suspended the 1929 Act and in addition forbade the taking of any action or legal proceedings in any court of law on account of any matter which, if the 1929 Act were in operation, could be the subject of an inquiry, determination or decision of the Civil Service Compensation Board. It would be open to a transferred officer to claim that he had, by the operation of this Order, been damnified in that he had been deprived of the statutory remedy provided for him in the event of any worsening of his conditions. It is necessary, therefore, to declare specifically that the operation of the Order does not constitute a worsening within the meaning of the Principal Act.
(b) The operation of the bonus regulations. The stabilisation of bonus and the departure from the pre-emergency system under which bonus moved upwards or downwards in relation to the cost-of-living index figure was a prima facie worsening, and stabilisation, etc., must, therefore, be specifically excluded as a ground of claim.
(c) The operation of the regulations of 1947. These regulations embody what is generally described as consolidation. Though consolidation in fact carried with it an increase of remuneration, the increase accorded was less than would have been received by transferred officers had there been a reversion to the older bonus system. Moreover, consolidation took effect only from 1st November, 1946, and transferred officers could claim on two bases: (1) that they were in fact receiving less than their entitlement, and (2) that money was due to them by way of arrears which they had not received and would not receive. Consolidation and the consequentials thereof have, therefore, to be declared not to be a ground of claim."
It is not quite clear that the addition to the working hours could not be defended without a special provision therefor in this Bill. It is to be anticipated, however, that the board on account of the undoubted interference with the position of transferred officers would tend to lean to their side in the construction of the 1929 Act and it has, therefore, been thought advisable to put the matter out of doubt.
Section 3 deals with the position of transferred officers who retired on grounds of age or of health either while the bonus was stabilised in relation to a cost-of-living index figure of 185 or at a later stage when it had been adjusted upwards to relate it to the cost-of-living index figure of 210.
Sub-section (1) (a) covers the pensioner who retired during the period of stabilisation with bonus calculated on a cost-of-living index figure of 185, and (b) covers the case of that pensioner as affected by the operation of Emergency Powers (No. 354) Order. Briefly, the effect of the 354 Order was as follows: Pensioners, the bonus element of whose pension had been calculated by reference to a stabilised cost-of-living figure of 185, had that portion of their pension which consisted of an annual allowance increased so far as the bonus element was concerned to bring it into relation to a cost-of-living figure of 205 or 210. Their lump sums were not, however, adjusted correspondingly. They have on two grounds a basis on which to approach the board for compensation (a) that their pension should in any event have been calculated on a higher figure than 185—some on a higher figure than 210 —and (b) that any adjustment upwards should apply to the lump sum as well as to the annual payment.
It will be observed that there is a reference in sub-section (1) (b) to the Superannuation Act, 1947. The intention of the Bill which has been introduced on this subject is to adjust the pensions and lump sums of Civil Service pensioners who were affected by stabilisation to bring them into relation to a cost-of-living index figure either of 270 or the cost-of-living index figure which would have applied in the normal way at the time of their retirement had there been no stabilisation. The ceiling will be the 270 figure but if the appropriate normal figure would have been less than 270 the normal will apply. The grounds of claim are obvious inasmuch as the pensioner has not received his full due and will not in any event get arrears of pension. It is proposed that the Superannuation Bill be introduced and run through before this Amending Bill is enacted— in fact, the Second Stage of the Superannuation Bill was completed a few minutes ago—and it is understood that no objection is seen as far as the Dáil authorities are concerned to the adoption of the phraseology used in sub-section (1) (b).
Sub-section (2) of this section provides that if a transferred officer retires hereafter and is awarded a pension, the bonus element of which is related to a cost-of-living index figure of 270 or to a higher figure, he will have no claim for compensation even though 270 or the higher figure may be less than the cost-of-living figure which would have obtained had bonus continued to be payable on the lines followed pre-emergency. This is the significance of the expression "not less than that provided for and applying under the Regulations of 1947". A corresponding provision has not been inserted in relation to salaries (a) because it is thought unlikely that that board would listen sympathetically to a plea from a transferred officer who received more favourable terms than those accorded under consolidation since the transferred officers by ballot agreed to consolidation and (b) because it would be difficult to devise any form of words to meet the case which would not either assume powers nullifying the effect of Section 14 entirely or, on the other hand, would not hold out definite expectation of a revision upwards of consolidation. Sub-section (3) provides that no transferred officer on superannuation can have recourse to the board on the grounds that the suspension of the 1929 Act deprived him of his statutory remedy to seek compensation if and when his superannuation conditions had been interfered with adversely.
Section 4 provides that the Bill itself, if enacted, shall not constitute a worsening of transferred officers' conditions. The Bill, of course, does prima facie constitute such a worsening since it removes from the scope of worsened conditions a number of interferences with the positions of transferred officers which materially altered these positions to their detriment. It is necessary, therefore, to provide by statue that no grounds of claim shall be admitted based on the interference effected by the Bill itself.
