Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
509. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the increase paid in February 2022 under the public service pay agreement will be extended to those who have retired; and if so, if a date has been set for making the payment. [41588/22]
View answerThe previous Government approved the current pension increase policy as part of its commitments under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (PSSA).
Under this policy, which applied for the duration of the PSSA, pay increases granted to serving staff over the course of the PSSA were passed on to those pensions awarded under the pre-existing public service schemes where the salary on which the pension was based did not exceed the salary of serving staff with the same grade and scale point, after the pay increase had been applied. If it qualified, the pension was eligible for an increase to the extent that this would ensure alignment with the pay of serving staff.
I approved the continuation of the above pension increase policy for the period to the end of 2022. In that regard, Circular 10/2021 was issued to sanction and give guidance on the application of the policy over that period in respect of pay restoration and pay increases for serving staff under Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022. The Circular can be found in electronic form at: www.gov.ie/en/circular/e3bc7-instruction-on-the-pension-increase-policy-in-the-public-service-until-end-2022/.
I would like to draw your attention to paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of part 4 of the Circular. In particular, paragraph 10 explains how pension increase policy from 1 February 2022 may apply to sectoral bargaining agreements that have been arrived at by the relevant Department or public service body. It states the following:
"Subject to the following, the current pension increase policy may be applied to agreements made under the Sectoral Bargaining Fund process. In determining whether or not pension increases should be granted to relevant qualifying pensions as a result of any such agreement, the established principles for passing on special increases in pay to pension in payment should be considered. Amongst others, these include the requirements that pay increases must apply to all staff serving in the grades/posts concerned and must be permanent features of the pay scales".
Implementation of pension increase policy is a matter for the pension paying authorities in the relevant sectors based on the agreements made under sectoral bargaining and the application of circular 10/21.
