Vol. 563 No. 4
306 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason a person (details supplied) in County Dublin who gave notice in 2000 of their intention to purchase actual teaching service under the terms of the PCW Agreement of Teachers, has not yet been informed of the cost of purchase; when they will be informed of the cost of the purchase which his Department undertook to send to them in April 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7911/03]
The secondary teachers superannuation scheme was a voluntary scheme up to 1996 and many teachers did not join it at the earliest date possible. The Programme for Competitiveness and Work introduced a facility whereby scheme members could buy back earlier years when they were eligible to join the scheme but did not do so. More than 10,000 teachers applied to buy service for superannuation purposes under the PCW arrangements. More than half of those teachers opted to pay at retirement. Others, including the person in question, opted for a quotation for up-front payment in which case the buyback contribution is based on pay at the date of application. Work on the processing of these up-front applications is at an advanced stage. The cost of buyback for the person in question will be based on pay in 1998, when the application was made.
Prior to the introduction of the buyback arrangements, the only provision available to make up for shortfalls in pensionable service was the scheme for the purchase of notional service. Under this scheme, notional service could be purchased for superannuation purposes at full actuarial cost. The buyback scheme includes provisions for the offsetting of notional service contributions against the cost of buyback. The offsetting calculations are quite complex and take account of the particular circumstances of each teacher. The person in question applied to purchase notional service some years ago and is therefore in a position to avail of the offsetting arrangements. My Department expects to be in a position to issue a detailed quotation to her in the next week or so.
