asked the Minister for the Public Service (a) the details, including conditions for eligibility, extent and scales of payment, of the scheme of children's allowances for public service employees, (b) the date on which such a scheme was introduced and the dates that subsequent improvements, if any, were made in the scheme, (c) the estimated cost to the Exchequer of the scheme in each of the last five financial periods for which complete figures are available, (d) the number of public servants benefiting from the scheme in each of the periods in question, and their percentage of the total number of public service employees, (e) the average payment per public employee entitled to payment under the scheme in each of the financial periods in question, and (f) if he will cause details of the allowances to be published in future editions of Eolaire an Stáit.
Written Answers. - Public Service Employees' Children's Allowances.
The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the following statement.
Children's Allowances in the Public Service
1. In the public service, schemes for the payment of children's allowances apply to (a) certain categories of civil service staff (see (2) below), (b) members of the teaching service and (c) members of the Defence Forces.
2. Under existing arrangements (but see paragraph 6) the following staff are eligible for children's allowances:
Civil Service
(i) Married (or widowed) male officers serving in the former marriage-differentiated grades (i.e. general service and allied departmental grades).
(ii) Widows reinstated in the service in an established capacity.
Teaching Service
(i) Married (or widowed) male teachers.
(ii) Widowed female teachers.
Defence Forces
Married men (all ranks).
3. The current rate of children's allowances is £55 per child a year. The allowances are payable in respect of dependent children under 16 years of age, or under 21 years of age in the case of invalid children or children in full-time education. These rates and conditions apply in each area of the public service referred to above.
4. Children's allowance schemes in the public service do not have a common origin. In the civil service, the scheme began in 1925, in conjunction with the introduction of a system of marriage-differentiated pay for general service and allied departmental grades. The extension of the scheme to cover reinstated widows was agreed in 1961 under the scheme of conciliation and arbitration for the civil service. The payment of children's allowances in the teaching service began in 1951-52, following the introduction of a marriage-differentiated pay system in that service. In the Defence Forces, the principle of additional remuneration for married officers with dependent children has been a feature of the pay system since 1922, but the scheme of children's allowances in its present form, incorporating civil service rates and conditions for eligibility, dates from 1963.
5. The details requested at (c), (d) and (e) of the Question are given in the table attached.
6. It should be added that, following negotiations between the Department of the Public Service and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, proposals for the settlement of outstanding equal pay issues in the public service are currently being discussed under the appropriate public service conciliation and arbitration schemes. These proposals provide, inter alia, that (a) women public servants will be entitled to receive children's allowances on the same basis as men with effect from 31 December 1975 and (b) children's allowances will be discontinued in the case of new appointees to the public service. When these discussions have been finalised, the inclusion of an explanatory note on children's allowances in Eolaire an Stáit will be considered.
Public Service Children's Allowances 1974/78
|
(A) |
(B) |
(C) |
(D) |
|
|
Year |
Cost of Children's allowances |
Nos. of staff in receipt of children's allowances |
Nos. at (B) as percentage of total public service employees |
Average payment per eligible employee |
|
£ |
£ |
|||
|
1974 |
1,730,000 |
13,513 |
10.18% |
128 |
|
1975 |
2,118,000 |
14,425 |
10.32% |
146 |
|
1976 |
2,350,000 |
15,073 |
10.41% |
156 |
|
1977 |
2,400,000 |
15,470 |
10.34% |
155 |
|
1978 |
2,455,000 |
15,711 |
10.35% |
156 |