Vol. 545 No. 3
106 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance the situation regarding workers in various industries (details supplied) who do not receive the full benefit of social welfare old age pension; if this practice is enshrined in the rules of the individual pension funds; if this is due to a provision in the Finance Act of the early 1970s under the principle of co-ordination; the reason for the situation in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30241/01]
In the Civil Service for which I am directly responsible and in the public service generally, the practice is that in co-ordinating the occupational pension with the social welfare pension, such co-ordination is carried out only once – at the time the individual retires. On the occurrence of relevant pay increases after retirement, the pensioner's occupational pension is increased by reference to the percentage of such increases. The pensioner receives the full benefit of any social welfare increases subsequent to retirement.
107 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance if he will recognise an English teaching service under the Good Friday Agreement for pension purposes. [30256/01]
The Commission on Public Service Pensions, which reported recently, considered the question of persons entering the public service in this country who had previously served in the UK public service. The Commission recommended that the rel evant authorities here take up with the relevant authorities in the UK the question of amending the respective transfer schemes so as to enable individuals who have built up pension entitlements in the public service in one jurisdiction to have the benefit of those entitlements transferred to the other jurisdiction and given appropriate credit for the purposes of the pension scheme applicable in the other jurisdiction.
The commission recognised that any such arrangements could only be made where there was an agreement to operate them on a reciprocal basis and that the arrangements would have to reflect the overall parameters of the schemes. The commission noted that, in practice, it was likely that any such changes would only apply in relation to future transfers and that the service credit would be the actuarial equivalent of the accrued entitlements.
I announced on 28 September, 2001 that the Government had decided to accept the thrust of the package of reforms recommended by the commission and that it intended to establish the working group to advise on implementation as provided for in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The Government will agree the operational details of the implementation of the Commission recommendations following receipt of a report from the implementation working group.
In relation to teaching service, a working group reporting to the North-South ministerial council, with representatives from the Department of Education and Science, the Northern Ireland Department of Education and my Department, is examining the question of the mutual recognition of teaching service for pension purposes.
