Vol. 490 No. 2
171 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Finance whether full pension appropriate to the number of years service is payable by his Department without deduction of notional social welfare payment when a person employed under the secretarial assistance scheme for Oireachtas Members retires at the age of 60 and has no entitlement to retirement pension until age 65; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10067/98]
Under the terms of the pension scheme for secretarial assistants in the Houses of the Oireachtas, the occupational pension is integrated with the social welfare pension as is the practice in other areas of the public sector where employees qualify for the full range of social welfare benefits. Under the terms of the scheme a pension, where payable, is based on "net-pensionable remuneration". This means the amount by which pensionable remuneration exceeds twice the rate of old age contributory pension payable on the last day of pensionable service to a person who has no adult dependant or qualified children.
Where a member of the scheme retires at age 60, a supplementary pension may be paid in respect of any period after retirement during which the pensioner is not employed; and fails to qualify, for reasons outside his or her control, for the maximum personal rate of invalidity pension, unemployment benefit, disability benefit or contributory old age pension. The supplementary pension is designed to ensure that in the circumstances outlined above the person concerned has a combined income not less than the pension which would have been payable without co-ordination. An applicant for a supplementary pension must confirm in writing that the above conditions are fulfilled in his or her case.
172 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will review the operation of the scheme for the award of professional added years in the cases where the abatement results in overall entitlement to public service and social welfare pensions falling short of the full public service pension, as in a case of a person (details supplied); and whether these provisions have been tested legally as being in accordance with the principles of justice. [10135/98]
Many public servants retire with less than a full pension, because they have not had sufficient service to qualify for such a pension. I do not accept that any individual has an automatic right to maximum pension benefits other than in accordance with the terms of the various public service pension schemes. These schemes compare favourably with schemes in the private sector and it is in their nature that various terms and restrictions will apply.
As it happens the provisions relevant to the case referred to by the Deputy are currently under review. This review is at an early stage and I cannot say whether it will be of any benefit to the person concerned. The specific abatement issue raised by the Deputy which was established following an independent arbitrator's finding in 1984 has not been legally tested.
