asked the Minister for Finance why the benefit of the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1963, cannot be allowed to persons who transferred to the Civil Service before the passing of the Act or who were transferred before the organisation to which they previously belonged was designated an approved organisation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1963.
27.
To obtain the benefit of the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1963, transfers to the Civil Service must, in accordance with the terms of the Act, take place from organisations which have been designated thereunder. Accordingly, transfers which took place either before the passing of the Act or before the organisation was designated cannot benefit under the Act.
Would the Minister not agree that this appears to be discrimination against people who through no fault of their own happened to be in organisations which particularly were not listed as being entitled to participate and which may subsequently be?
The Deputy will appreciate that I do not wish to commit myself in advance. He probably knows that there is a claim in in this respect. I do not want to commit myself in advance on it. I would not go any further than to say that I would be more sympathetic to the proposition in relation to organisations which had not been designated than to the proposition of applying this to people who transferred before the Act became law.
I can assure the Minister that I would be prepared, if I were the only person responsible, to accept as a compromise his second proposal but the Minister should adopt a good trading principle and give retrospective effect.