The Deputy is referring to the facility for the purchase and transfer of retirement benefits in the Single Public Service Pension Scheme (Single Scheme), established by way of Statutory Instrument (S.I. No 252/2019) and introduced to Scheme members by way of D/PER Circular 15/2019 with effect from 1 October 2019.
The vast majority of public servants recruited since 1 January 2013 in approximately 350 Relevant Authorities (public service bodies responsible for the administration of the Scheme) are members of the Single Scheme. Each Relevant Authority is legally responsible for administering the Single Scheme for its own staff who are members of the Scheme, including in relation to the purchase and transfer of retirement benefits. My Department does not hold the data requested by the Deputy in relation to purchases by Scheme members in other Relevant Authorities. In my own Department, however, where I have legal responsibility for the administration of the Scheme for employees, I understand that, although no Scheme member from the Department entered into a contract for purchase in the period in question, an application from one employee is currently being processed.
The purchase and transfer facility was developed around the particular features of the Single Scheme, which operates on the basis of pension credits and retirement lump sum credits, called “referable amounts” accruing as percentages of pay throughout a Scheme member’s career. The facility operates on a cost neutral basis for both the Exchequer and individual Scheme members alike. It offers Scheme members the opportunity to purchase extra pension and/or retirement lump sum credits in multiples of €1 in pension and/or €1 in lump sum, subject to specific individual limits, as provided for in the Circular. The main purpose of the limits is to ensure, as far as possible, that Revenue rules in relation to retirement benefits are observed. The structure of the Single Scheme is significantly different to the structure of the pre-existing public service pension schemes, where retirement benefits are generally based on pensionable remuneration at retirement and reckonable, pensionable service.
The purchase and transfer facility under the Single Scheme operates on the basis of annual contracts. A Scheme member can enter into multiple purchase contracts over the period of his/her career, subject to complying with the limits set out in the Circular. This gives the Scheme member the option to enter into a series of smaller purchases, rather than one large purchase, as is generally the case in relation to purchase of service under the pre-existing pension schemes. For this reason, lump sum, rather than periodic purchase is provided for.
My Department offers central support across key areas of Single Scheme administration to all Relevant Authorities by way of classroom based training and the provision of a dedicated website containing support materials for administrators and members of the Scheme. Specific training courses were devised to help with the rollout of the purchase and transfer facility under D/PER Circular 15/2019 and these were well attended, with participants providing very positive feedback on the courses. Due to the current Covid 19 pandemic, these training courses are being delivered by Webinar. Administrator and Scheme member tools in relation to the operation of the purchase and transfer facility are available on the Single Scheme website to assist Scheme members and administrators. An Administrator’s calculator tool automatically calculates limits for an individual Scheme member and provides an estimate of the cost of purchase for that member. There is also a tool on the website that Scheme members can use to automatically calculate the cost of purchase for themselves.
I have no plans to change the structure of the Single Scheme purchase and transfer facility at this time.
