asked the Minister for the Public Service in respect of the pensions scheme for unestablished State employees, if he will make full Army emergency service reckonable for pension purposes, in respect of those who retired prior to 1 October 1975, in the same way as it applies to those who retired on and from that date; the number of people who will be affected by such extension; and the annual estimated cost of this on the Exchequer.
Written Answers . - State Pensions Scheme .
135.
: Pensionable service given in the Army during the emergency is reckonable for purposes of the non-contributory pension scheme for non-established State employees provided the employee concerned was serving on or after 1 October 1975. The pensions —but not lump sums—of employees who retired before that date were revised to take account of emergency service. This is in accordance with the normal practice in pension revisions of this type and, in the circumstances, I do not feel that the expenditure of resources involved in obtaining the information sought in the concluding part of the question would be warranted.