asked the Minister for the Public Service when the revised pensions due to retired members of the Public Service from 1 September 1983 will be paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Public Service Pensions.
12.
Payment of pensions at the revised rates will be made to retired civil servants at the end of January 1984 and will include arrears due up to that date. The application of the revision to pensioners in other areas of the public service is the responsibility of the appropriate Minister in each case.
As regards public service pensions generally, the current practice is to increase such pensions on 1 July each year by reference to changes in the pay rates of serving officers withing the previous 12 months. There has been pressure for many years now for full parity, that is, for pension adjustments to take effect from the same date as the pay increases. Last year, as an exceptional measure, I agreed in the course of the pay negotiations that the first phase of the Public Service Pay Agreement would, in general, apply with effect from 1 September 1983 to pensions in course of payment on that date.
The Government have now decided in the context of yesterday's budget that in the case of general pay increases such as the second phase of the Public Service Pay Agreement, full parity will be implemented from 1 February 1984 onwards at an estimated cost of £2 million. So far as grade or special increases are concerned, parity will be dealt with in the context of negotiations for the next pay round and the new arrangements will be implemented in 1985. Negotiators will, of course, have to take these commitments into account in costing future pay claims.