asked the Minister for Health if he will make it a condition of the disbursement of grants to voluntary hospitals and analogous institutions that they operate a pension scheme for nursing staff and maintenance personnel similar to that enjoyed by local authority hospital employees.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Pension Scheme Operations.
6.
I do not propose to lay down such a condition at present. The voluntary hospitals superannuation scheme, which is administered by my Department, applies to a large number of staff employed by the voluntary hospitals. The benefits payable under that scheme are comparable with those payable to health board staff under the Local Government (Superannuation) Act, 1956. Some other hospitals and institutions have their own pension schemes and expenditure on these is provided for in their financial allocations.
The local government superannuation code is at present under review by a working party established by the Minister for Local Government. The pension provisions for staff throughout the health services will be examined in the context of the report of that working party.
Having regard to the vast expenditure of the health services would the Minister not agree that there is a need to provide a proper pension scheme for nurses in hospitals and other institutions who find themselves, after giving years of service, paid off and having to retire on social welfare allowances?
That is not my information. The scheme to which I referred and which is a contributory one applies to officers in voluntary hospitals. These are the permanent, full time, para-medical, technical, nursing, administrative and clerical staffs. They are described as being officers in the voluntary hospitals. As far as the non-officers are concerned, after 10 years' service they get an ex gratia pension based on half their service when they retired. As I told the Deputy in the original reply, the Minister for Local Government has established a working party in order to examine the position of those who are described as non-officers and it is my hope that the working party will recommend that non-officers be brought into the local government scheme.