asked the Minister for Education whether he has received a resolution from the pre-1950 pensioned secondary teachers concerning the delay in the payment of the remaining two-thirds of their retiring gratuities; and, if so, whether it is his intention to pay the balance of gratuity in question without further delay.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Secondary Teachers' Retiring Allowances.
I have received the resolution mentioned and I am arranging that the amending regulations necessary to enable the balance of the gratuities to be paid will be brought before the Oireachtas at the earliest possible time.
Does the earliest possible time mean before the adjournment of the House for the summer recess?
It is possible we will have a draft of the regulation from the parliamentary draftsman by the end of this week. If the Dáil were to meet next week, there is a possibility that the amended superannuation scheme could be put before the House next week. The matter is a rather complicated one. It is not an isolated amendment of the superannuation scheme. These moneys have to be paid from the pension fund which is controlled by regulations passed by way of Statutory Order here. Arising out of a certain number of matters which have been dealt with by conciliation and other machinery, a number of amendments are before the draftsman for inclusion in a new draft Order. It is possible that they may not be ready to be put before the Dáil even if the House meets next week. The original payment was made out of the Contingency Fund.
Is the Contingency Fund exhausted, or is there any means by which the remainder of this money can be paid? Seeing that one-third has already been paid out of the Contingency Fund, why is it necessary to introduce amending legislation to pay the remaining two-thirds?
It has not been possible yet to repay the moneys taken out of the fund last year because statutory power is not there to do so. The Contingency Fund has not enough money in it to meet the amount that will have to be paid now, but I assure the Deputy that everything possible will be done to speed up the matter. I have been tackling the question from the point of view of paying from the Contingency Fund but I do not know whether or not it will be possible to do that.
In view of the small number involved, I hope the Minister will hurry it up.