Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2017
46. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps he will take to ensure that excessive pensions for former politicians and public servants are curtailed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40459/17]
View answerThe pay and pensions of public servants including members of the Oireachtas were significantly reduced by a series of Financial Emergency Acts. The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Acts, including the FEMPI 2010 Act which imposed the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) on public servants in receipt of public service pensions, owe their constitutional legitimacy to the presence of an overriding public interest, and because they are very general in application, fair and proportionate. This is the legal basis for the reductions in pensions applicable to former members and office holders of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The FEMPI measures are only lawful because they are very general (many tens of thousands of pensioners are affected by the FEMPI reductions), and are designed to be fair and proportionate. It is not legally possible to single out individuals or groups and apply cuts to them on a different basis. It is the Government’s stated position to unwind the measures imposed under the FEMPI Acts as soon as possible with particular regard to the impacts on public service pensions in payment and public service pensioners.
The Courts are extremely sensitive to retrospective changes to pensions which are viewed as vested property rights. The Government is required to work within the constitutional and statutory legal framework under which all Irish Governments operate.
