Vol. 432 No. 3
55 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department will make a payment to the Department of Education to maintain the superannuation entitlements of teachers on Third World Development Projects through APSO.
The issue of superannuation payments of APSO development workers, and in particular teachers, has been a major problem restricting APSO's recruitment of personnel for some time. The issue was highlighted again in the Consultancy report commissioned by APSO on the placement of Irish personnel overseas during the next four years in the context of the commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the number of such personnel substantially.
I regard it as important that the rights and entitlements of development workers be safeguarded so that they would not be penalised because they choose to work for a period in a developing country. I have instructed my officials to examine the issue of superannuation as a matter of urgency and to consult with the Government Departments concerned, namely Finance and Education. I hope that a solution to this problem can be found shortly.
