Vol. 489 No. 2
104 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Defence if he will have arrangements made for an examination of the status of persons (details supplied) in County Kilkenny, who are non established civil servants, with a view to achieving an agreement on their pay scale, pension rights and so on. [7771/98]
The persons under reference are not civil servants of either an established or non-established category. They are civilian employees of the Department of Defence who are employed under the terms of section 30 (1) (g) of the Defence Act, 1954 to work with the Defence Forces. Their appointments to their present positions as civilian employees of the Department of Defence were made directly by the Minister for Defence under the Defence Act, 1954. The Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956, and the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956, do not apply to such appointments.
In 1995, the Labour Court examined a claim made on behalf of certain civilian employees of the Department of Defence, serving in clerical positions with the Defence Forces, for establishment within the Civil Service. The Labour Court found against concession of that claim.
All civilian employees of the Department of Defence are categorised as non-established State employees. They have a non-contributory pension scheme in place which provides a pension and a retirement lump sum on retirement, subject to certain service criteria.
In addition, by virtue of their PRSI contributions, civilian employees would also be eligible for a contributory retirement/old age pension from the Department of Social Welfare on their retirement.
