Vol. 401 No. 6
74 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Education the reason the number of national teachers continuing to compulsory retirement age has reduced from 65.7 per cent to 28 per cent since 1979; the reason the number retiring on disability has increased from 5.8 per cent to 20.3 per cent in the same period; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The increase in the percentage of teachers retiring on pension who retire voluntarily before reaching compulsory retiring age reflects the choice of the teachers concerned, influenced by changes in superannuation provisions which removed disincentives against such early retirement.
The Deputy will note that despite large increases in the total number of teachers in employment in the periods up to and including the period in question the total number of teachers retiring from the service in 1989 shows a 28 per cent decrease on the number who retired in 1979. This decrease reflects the effect of the 1988 special voluntary redundancy-early retirement scheme for primary teachers. The percentage figures for the number of people retiring on being awarded disability pensions is, therefore, artifically inflated for 1989.
