Vol. 398 No. 8
69 Mr. Cowen asked the Minister for Finance if he has any plans to deal with an anomaly whereby a public servant (details supplied) cannot transfer his service as a public servant in Northern Ireland to the public services in the Republic of Ireland for pension purposes; and if this position will be rectified as service in this country is reckonable for pension purposes in Northern Ireland.
As I mentioned in reply to two previous questions on this subject on 25 April 1990, my Department operates a scheme whereby service may be transferred for pension purposes, on a reciprocal basis, between participating organisations. Any organisation in the public or private sector — including organisations based in Northern Ireland, Britain or elsewhere — is free to join this scheme if it is prepared to accept the obligations of membership, including the liability to make financial contributions where necessary towards the ultimate cost of service transfers.
To date, no organisation in Northern Ireland or Britain has been willing to accept the conditions governing the transfer scheme. Moreover, the Northern Ireland authorities do not allow service given here to be reckoned for benefit purposes under their public sector pension schemes. In the absence of reciprocity, it would not be appropriate to allow service given in Northern Ireland to be reckonable here — such a "one-way" arrangement would entail substantial Exchequer costs which could not be justified.
