asked the Minister for Finance if interest will be paid on the delayed gratuity payments to the 87 employees of the Boyne drainage scheme at Trim, County Meath, whom, it is understood, will be made redundant on 15 January 1986 and who have been informed that every effort will be made to pay the gratuities as quickly as possible and that it is hoped payment will be made by the end of February 1986.
Written Answers. - Boyne (Meath) Drainage Scheme Employees.
68.
The non-contributory pension scheme for non-established State employees provides that an employee who is discharged on the grounds of redundancy shall be eligible to receive a lump sum payment under the scheme provided he/she has the necessary qualifying service. The scheme makes no provision as to when this lump sum should be paid. The policy of the commissioners is to make the lump sum payments as quickly as possible after the date on which the redundancy takes place. This policy will be followed in the case of the 87 employees who are due to be made redundant on 15 January 1986. Accordingly the matter of payment of interest does not arise.
69.
asked the Minister for Finance the reason the 87 employees on the Boyne drainage scheme at Trim, County Meath, who will be made redundant on 15 January 1986, must wait for at least six weeks before they receive payment of their gratuities; and if this is due to lack of staff, the reason it is not possible to provide extra staff from another section of his Department.
The non-contributory pension scheme for non-established State employees makes no provision as to when lump sum payments should be made to employees on becoming redundant. While it is the policy of the Commissioners of Public Works to pay redundancy lump sums as quickly as possible it is usually not possible to pay them at date of termination of employment. Recent payments of lump sums to workers made redundant on the Boyne and Corrib-Mask schemes have put into arrears the normal working of the pension section. Any attempt to improve on the target date in this case would result in unacceptable delays in payments to other persons entitled to pensions, pension lump sums and pension revisions.
The drafting of extra staff even if available into the pensions section for a short term would not improve matters. Processing of each of the 87 pension lump sums entails a very considerable amount of careful and meticulous calculation which can only be carried out by experienced staff.