Vol. 509 No. 6
603 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will ensure that retired principals and deputy principals in community and comprehensive schools receive pension parity and those who retired before 1 September 1996 be placed on the school category they retired on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21357/99]
This question concerns my Department's decision not to pay the revised scales of the principals' and deputy principals' allowances to teachers who retired prior to 1 September 1996.
My Department's position in regard to the payment of these allowances is based on the advice of the Department of Finance regarding Government decisions taken over the years regarding public service pensions and on the facts regarding my Department's long standing practice.
A teacher's pay is made up of incremental salary and of a range of allowances. It is my Department's long standing practice that the benefit of an increase in incremental salary will be reflected in the pensions of all retired teachers and that the benefit of an allowance will be reflected in the pensions of retired teachers who held that allowance in pay.
My Department's practice in regard to allowances goes back to at least 1970, when post of responsibility allowances were introduced in the case of vocational teachers. Following further discussions with teachers' unions and school management, they were introduced in the case of secondary teachers in 1971. Although the allowances were payable with retrospective effect, they were not payable to teachers who had retired prior to 1 July 1968, the agreed effective date of establishment of the allowances. The Department of Finance has confirmed that my Department's practice has not been affected by Government decisions made over the years, most recently in 1997, regarding the link between public service pay and pensions.
