Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 July 2015
126. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the impact of the Lansdowne Road agreement on the yield from the public service pension reduction in 2016 and 2017; the number of persons currently subject to a deduction as a result of the reduction; the average reduction in 2013 and 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28195/15]
View answerIn welcoming the proposals developed between public service employers and the representative associations and unions for an extension to the Haddington Road Agreement out to September 2018, I indicated that I intended to bring forward separate proposals to Government to provide also for a reduction in the impact of the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) as it applies to the pensions of retired public servants.
In line with my stated commitments I secured Government approval on the 16 June last to move towards reducing the burden of public service pension reductions. In overall terms the proposals agreed in relation to PSPR will remove entirely the lower paid PSPR-affected pensioners (in general those with pre-PSPR pensions of up to €34,132) from the impact of the measure. For those PSPR-affected pensioners not completely removed from the PSPR "net", the changes, when fully implemented in 2018, will in most cases deliver a reduction in the PSPR of €1,680, comprised of €400, €500 and €780 on 1 January 2016, 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018 respectively.
The proposals are designed to favour those on lower public service pensions to the greatest extent possible consistent with the requirement to amend the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest legislation on which the PSPR is statutorily based.
The planned measures will reduce the PSPR yield by an estimated €30 million per year in 2016 and by a further reduction of a similar amount in 2017. Some 90,000 public service pensions are currently impacted by PSPR.
The estimated average impact of the PSPR per affected pensioner in 2013 was in the region of €1,470, and for 2014 the average impact of PSPR was in the region of €1,600, reflecting the application over that entire year of higher reductions imposed on pensions over €32,500.
