asked the Minister for Health if he will consider altering the present uniform superannuation scheme of the voluntary hospital nurses; and if he is aware that this superannuation scheme is preventing nurses from returning to this country as they cannot claim credit for previous service in a voluntary hospital for the purposes of pension.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Hospitals Superannuation Scheme.
17.
The voluntary hospitals superannuation scheme which came into operation on the 1st January last provided for the first time a single scheme for staffs, including nurses, in the service of voluntary hospitals to which grants are paid from the Hospitals Trust fund. The scheme enables the staff to move freely between the hospitals concerned and to transfer to the service of local health authorities and back again without loss of pension rights.
Participation in the scheme is obligatory for staff appointed in a permanent capacity since the commencement date. Staffs serving on that date were eligible to join the scheme at their own option and those who did so were given a generous concession which enabled them to have all their past service reckoned for pension purposes.
I have not received evidence of a need for amendment of the scheme in its application to nurses who return after the commencement of the scheme, but I shall be prepared to have any such evidence which is submitted to me carefully examined.