Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 January 2014
271. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide details of the categories of public sector workers who can avail of and-or request added years on retirement. [1338/14]
View answer272. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide in tabular form the occasions on which he signed off awarding added years to public sector workers between March 2011 and December 2013; the grade of the persons awarded the added years; and the number of added years awarded in each instance. [1365/14]
View answer277. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide in tabular form the projected monetary value of the added years awarded to public sector workers on retirement between 2007 and 2013. [1403/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 271, 272 and 277 together.
There are various arrangements in operation throughout the Civil and Public Service which can provide in certain circumstances for added notional years of reckonable service when calculating superannuation benefits.
- Professional Added Years Schemes: These schemes apply to certain professional, technical and specialist posts in both the Civil and Public Service. Subject to certain conditions, they provide for the granting of added years in cases where the minimum essential requirements of a competition are such that they would prohibit a candidate from entering the civil/public service in sufficient time to acquire maximum service and, by extension, the candidate would be unable to accrue maximum superannuation benefits. An example of this would a specific provision within the Local Government superannuation arrangements to award professional added years to officers employed in certain specified professional grades. With regard to the five older university schemes, the Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009 provided for the transfer of their pension funds to the National Pension Reserve Fund. In accordance with Section 11 of the Act, discretions regarding added years, etc. transferred from the Governing Bodies to the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform acting jointly. I understand my colleague the Minister for Education and Skills has separately provided the Deputy with details of any such awards made since the implementation of this Act.
- Ill-Health/Death in Service: Added years may be granted in the Civil and Public Service in cases of retirement on the grounds of ill-health or where a Survivor's pension is being awarded in circumstances where the civil or public servant dies while still in service.
- Section 6 of the Superannuation Act 1909 and Sections 6 and 7 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act 1963 set out rules governing the early retirement of Civil Servants as a result of abolition of office or for the purpose of facilitating improvements in order to effect greater efficiency and economy in the organisation of a Department. Section 6 of the 1963 Act provides for the granting of added years. (These provisions may apply to Secretaries General at the end of their contracts; similar provisions apply to City & County Managers under the Local Government Superannuation Scheme). In the wider Public Service these provisions serve as guidelines in dealing with similar cases.
- Chief Executive Officers of Non-Commercial State Sponsored Bodies may, in certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions, be granted added years at the end of their contract.
It is not the case that the granting of added years is subject in all cases to direct Ministerial approval. Added years are generally granted on an administrative basis in accordance with the terms of the relevant pension scheme or statutes. Only in an exceptional case would formal Ministerial approval be required.
As regards the detailed information sought, it should be noted that, once a pension is calculated and comes into payment, a breakdown of the various service components upon which that pension is based is not retained centrally nor readily available. It would take an inordinate amount of official time and effort to obtain the information as it would necessitate examination of the files of all retirees since 2007.
