Vol. 399 No. 3
15 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the implications for this country of the decision of the European Court of Justice on 17 May 1990 that company pension schemes must grant the same terms to men and women; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I assume the Deputy is referring to the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the case involving Douglas Harvey Barber and Guardian Royal Exchange. The European Court ruled in that case that the benefits payable by an employer to a worker in connection with the latter's compulsory redundancy fall within the scope of Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome which provides for equal pay for equal work. It considered that a pension paid under a private occupational pension scheme is covered by this provision. In the Court's view it is contrary to Article 119 of the Treaty for a man made compulsorily redundant to be entitled to claim only a deferred pension payable at the normal retirement age when a woman in the same situation is entitled to an immediate retirement pension as a result of the application of an age condition that varies according to sex in the same way as is provided for the national statutory pension scheme in the UK. The application of the principal of equal pay must be ensured in respect of each element of remuneration and not only on the basis of a comprehensive assessment of the consideration paid to workers.
The court also ruled that Article 119 has direct effect and may be ruled upon before the national courts. However this direct effect may not be relied upon in order to claim entitlement to a pension, with effect from the date of the judgment, except in the case of workers, or those claiming under them, who have before that date initiated legal proceedings or raised an equivalent claim under the applicable national law.
The majority of occupational pension schemes in Ireland provide for equal retirement ages for men and women and, accordingly, the judgment should have few implications for Irish pension schemes.
As Deputies will be aware the Pensions Bill which is currently before the House provides inter alia for equal treatment for men and women in occupational benefit schemes along the lines laid down in EC Directive 86/378/EC. The directive permits member states to defer the compulsory application of equal treatment with regard to pensionable ages until such time as this is provided under the State scheme or is required by a further directive. I am currently studying the implications of the recent court decision in this context. I propose to take cognisance of the court's judgment in the context of the Pensions Bill.
