Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
503. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if a person (details supplied) in County Kerry has established an entitlement to a public service pension from their service with the OPW; if this service can be added to service in an educational training board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37205/23]
View answerThe Deputy’s question comprises two matters – whether an individual holds an entitlement to a preserved pension in respect of a period of employment with the OPW and whether such service can be transferred to their current pension scheme membership. I propose to address each matter in turn.
In the first instance, it is a matter for the previous employer – in this case, OPW – to confirm if the individual’s seasonal employments were considered reckonable for pension purposes and the individual was placed in a public service pension scheme in respect of each period of employment.
At the time the individual was employed with OPW, the minimum service requirement for entitlement to preserved benefits under the civil service pension schemes, known as the 'vesting period', was 5 years' qualifying service.
Therefore, if the individual was a member of a public service pension scheme during their seasonal employments with OPW and they had accrued the required 5 years’ qualifying service prior to cessation of that employment, they may have retained a preserved pension entitlement in respect of that service.
Alternatively, if they had not met the vesting period on cessation of their OPW employment(s), they may have received a refund of any pension contributions paid and would not be entitled to preserved pension benefits in respect of that period. If that was the case, they may still have an option to repay any refund received, plus compound interest, in order to now reckon that service. These are matters for the OPW to confirm upon investigation of the individual’s employment history and personnel files.
If the individual retained a preserved pension entitlement in respect of their earlier OPW employment, or if it is confirmed that they are eligible to repay any refund received plus interest in order to reckon their service, it may be possible for them to transfer that service to their subsequent HSE and ETB employments for pension purposes.
The rules governing transfer of service in pre-existing (pre-2013) public service pension schemes are primarily set out in Department of Finance Letter to Personnel Officers 24 April 1979 ‘Draft Transfer Scheme’ and Letter to Personnel Officers 30 January 1981. That scheme has its origins in section 4 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act 1963, which, in short, provides that a person who is employed in a pensionable capacity in an “approved organisation”, may transfer pensionable service from one approved organisation to another. Collectively, these organisations make up what is known as the ‘Public Sector Transfer Network’ (PSTN).
It is a matter for each of the individual’s previous employers to verify whether the individual’s prior service meets the eligibility criteria set out in those transfer scheme rules and may be transferred to a subsequent public service pension scheme.
One such rule relates to the sequencing of transfers of service between participating bodies and requires that where a person holds reckonable service in multiple public service pension schemes, any transfer of service must be effected in sequential order based on their employment history, i.e. reckonable service must be transferred from the first organisation they worked for to the second organisation and so on.
Provided the OPW verify the individual’s pension entitlement during their period of employment with them, the individual may apply to transfer this period of service through the National Shared Services Office (NSSO), who administer pensions on behalf of the civil service. Their contact details may be found here: nsso.gov.ie/en/contact-us/.
