Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 February 2015
255. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation, which gave rise to a public service pension levy, have been implemented in an equitable manner; his views on a specific case where a person (details supplied) who earns over the threshold is being penalised above and beyond this amount. [6071/15]
View answerIt is understood that the measure to which the Deputy's question refers is the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR), which came into effect on 1 January 2011. It became law via the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2010 and was subsequently amended via the FEMPI (Amendment) Act 2011 and the FEMPI Act 2013. Detailed application of the public service pension reduction in accordance with the legislation is a matter for the individual public service pension paying authority.
The PSPR is a progressive reduction whereby those on higher pensions are impacted by a proportionately greater reduction than those on lower pensions who are impacted by a lower reduction or are exempt. Pensioners on €12,000 per year or less are fully exempt from PSPR, with a higher exemption threshold of €32,500 applying to pensioners who retired over the last three years. There are currently 3 different PSPR rate tables; the particular table which applies to any affected pension depends on when the pension was awarded and the size of the pension.
Based on the details supplied, it is assumed that the pension referred to in the Deputy's question was awarded on or before 29 February 2012. For all such pensions the threshold before PSPR applies is €12,000. From 1 July 2013 following the FEMPI 2013 Act, pensions in this category with a pre-PSPR value above €34,132 were subject to an increase in the PSPR imposition through the application of a table of higher PSPR rates, reflecting the Government's decision to secure an additional reduction in the public service pension bill, while avoiding further impacts in the case of pensioners on relatively lower pensions.
Additionally, section 5(4) of the FEMPI 2013 Act specifies that in circumstances where the application of the table of higher PSPR rates to pensions in payment on or before 29 February 2012 would reduce the pension in payment below the €32,500 threshold, a smaller reduction will be applied ensuring the pension is not reduced below €32,500.
